Craig Niemann is CEO of the City of Greater Bendigo, in Central Victoria. Built on the riches of the 1850s goldrush, the region has a strong culture of food, arts, sport and history.

Our city prides itself on being a popular tourist destination and major events host. Alas our accommodation, hospitality and visitation industries have borne the brunt of COVID-19.

The first major casualty was our annual Easter Festival, in its 150th year. Planning had been under way for over 12 months but we got to mid-March, just weeks out, and had to cancel. We also had daily flights direct to Sydney operating before coronavirus, and they, too, stopped. We’re working closely with Qantas now to get that service back up and running.

The Bendigo community has done an excellent job responding to the challenges. We have good DNA around community leadership and bringing leaders of business, government, key industries and agencies together to inform each other and make decisions. Our health leaders helped us clearly understand what we’re dealing with, and the importance of encouraging the whole community to take it seriously and follow the rules.

It’s been challenging, not knowing what’s coming next and not being in control yet having to find innovative and creative ways of supporting each other. Our measures have included:

• ‘Love Your Local’ campaign, featuring media ads and promotional shopfront stickers urging people to support local traders.

• Providing financial aid to food relief agency Bendigo Foodshare and seconding council staff to help them meet increased demand during COVID-19.

• Redeploying staff from impacted council businesses (like Bendigo Venues and Events) into other sections of the organisation.

• Deferring or waiving some fees and payments and providing community grants to groups most affected.

We look forward with optimism. Bendigo has several multi-million-dollar public and private capital projects planned for coming years, and local gold mining is thriving, with more exploration on the horizon that could bring further benefits and opportunities to our area.

Craig Niemann
Chief Executive Officer
City of Greater Bendigo