NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet visited Narooma at lunchtime on Friday, January 20.
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Accompanied by Bega Liberal candidate Russell Fitzpatrick, he spent more than an hour meeting businesses at Club Narooma to hear their concerns.
The Premier's office contacted Jenny Munro, president of the Narooma Chamber of Commerce, and asked her to invite business owners who would be interested in meeting Mr Perrottet.
"Obviously with a state election and losing Bega electorate to Labor, he came down to support Russell Fitzpatrick as the Liberal candidate," Ms Munro said.
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Felt listened to
A diverse group of businesses attended the lunch ranging from home repairs and not-for-profit organisation FairBreak through to hospitality, retail and tourism operators.
"We had about 20 business people at the lunch and easily more than half got to speak to the Premier," Ms Munro said.
"He spoke very well and was very attentive."
Ms Munro had made her closing comments at the agreed time but Mr Perrottet stayed on for a little longer when he saw other businesses were still waiting to speak to him.
"Everyone came back saying he listened to me and the Premier's office is going to get back to me," she said.
Mitigating Narooma's seasonality
Ms Munro wasn't privy to what the businesses discussed but suggested it may have included the various levels of bureaucracy.
Some businesses also have concerns about how quiet Narooma is during the winter.
"We have got some amazing people doing things about that.
"It is about giving locals assistance to go on and be enterprising," Ms Munro said.
For example, the Oyster Festival needs funding to continue running, which is very important because it attracts so many visitors to the town every year.
Ms Munro said Mr Perrottet announced the state government would contribute $4 million to the Narooma Wharf upgrade.
She said the state government is very aware about issues like the rising cost of living, rising interest rates and the number of people that will be switching from fixed-rate home loans to variable-rate loans and the implications of that for businesses.
As children prepare to return to school, Ms Munro said the government thought that about 90 per cent of parents are worried about how they are going to pay for computers and other digital equipment their children need, in addition to school uniforms.
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