VANA News

14^TH August 2020

Dear Members,

A really informative zoom call today with the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming & Liquor regulation the Hon Melissa Horne MP.

Minister Horne was instrumental in keeping us open during this heavy stage 4 lock down.

The Minister’s key points coming out of the call with myself were:

• Newsagents are an essential service during stage 4 COVID19 restrictions.
• We are now getting on top and stabilising the new cases of corona virus- 372 cases today. The pandemic is very real, and all government rules and regulations must be followed without exception
• Newsagents are doing a great job considering we are in a state of disaster and continue to deliver an essential service to the community, not just newspapers but a broad range of products and services.
• We need to continue to keep up the great work in all things COVID19 in our newsagency – Mandatory Face Coverings, Hand Sanitiser, Social Distancing & good hygiene.
• As the Minister for Gaming and Liquor Regulation, lotteries is a large part of our industry. I intend to keep working closely with VANA ,as lotteries provides substantial revenue to the state government of Victoria and is a major source of income for newsagents.