About our campaign fighting the Minns Ministry’s COVID-19 Micro Business Grant retrospective debt collection scam

August 14, 2024

Nearly two years after NSW Liberal-coalition Government’s 2021 COVID-19 Micro Business Grant (the Grant) offered and paid to thousands of small business across the state as for financial compensation for the NSW Government’s dictatorial pandemic lockdown regime, well then the incoming NSW Labor Government, since the March 2023 election, has been unscrupulously actively scamming to claw back all those paid out the grant compensation -typically between $10,000 and $15,214.

We met all Eligibility Criteria

Nature Trail was a legitimate Grant recipient, as it turned out one of thousands of honest small business owners suffering from the NSW Government denial of trade regime.

As with the others, we had duly checked the Grant’s eligibility criteria and considered our lockdown tour business met the guidelines of Service NSW. So, we applied online using the Service NSW secure and dedicated website portal, answering all the ‘radio’ point data gathering questions truthfully of course and attaching the required evidentiary documents and then hit ‘SUBMIT APPLICATION’. That was on 1 August 2021 (being an accountant also, one keeps all records of everything, with backups).

Our Application was approved and paid

Service NSW promptly emailed us a confirmation of receipt of our application for the Grant compensation, then another email confirming its was assessing our application, then another email asking for additional specific documentary evidence which we duly supplied by email same day.

On 11 August 2021, Service NSW emailed us confirmation that our application had been approved (successful). Over the course of the following several months Service NSW paid $1500 fortnightly into our business bank until a total amount of $15,214 has been paid to us.

This is our accounting record of receipt of the Grant instalment payments from Service NSW.

The valuable grant funds were all duly put back into our business overhead costs to keep it afloat in light of us being denied trade under the NSW Government’s pandemic lockdown regime – which we complied with at the time, until it finally lifted.

The ‘Audit’ is an invalid scam

So in 2023, for Nature Trail to then be suddenly targeted out-of-the-blue for repayment of this grant compensation, was an unconscionable scam.

This is a pertinent clause of the Grant’s Terms and Conditions. Read It!

SO, 24 MONTHS AFTER THE FINAL PAYMENT WAS MADE, THE GRANT’S TERMS PROHIBIT SERVICE NSW MAKING ANY FURTHER CONTACT WITH A GRANT RECIPIENT! LEGALLY, THIS IS TERMED ‘CONTRACT TERMINATION’.

Grant recipients are guided to not deal with anyone from Service NSW on the phone. Just hang up. Only deal with Service NSW in writing on one last letter to use this Terms and Conditions Clause 4.8 (above) to end all dealings with Service NSW forthwith. Including a complaint would be appropriate. Write by registered post to Cassandra Gibbens, Executive Director Business Bureau Service NSW GPO Box 7057 SYDNEY NSW 2001, and cc. your local member in the NSW State Parliament.

That’s it end of the saga!

For Nature Trail those Grant payments to Nature Trail concluded on 10 December 2021. The period of 24 months for Service NSW to start pursuing us for whatever contrived claw-back ‘audit’ terminated under its own contract terms on 10 December 2023.

Yet, Service NSW illegally pursued us beyond that contractual deadline up to 30 April 2024.

Nature Trail over the course of full year (11 April 2023 to 30 April 2024) was repeatedly hounded and intimidated by mongrel debt collectors claiming to be from Service NSW, on high accusing us (nearly two years hence) of being retrospectively ineligible for the paid grant, baselessly deeming us to be fraudsters and demanding repaying of the grant in full.

We duly hung up on the scammers. But then after immediately receiving a pre-prepared email from Service NSW demanding same, we confirmed by calling 13 77 88.

Our quick conclusion?

We fought against the scammers from Day 1 when we hung on the first caller telling her to get a real job. That was 11 April 2023.

The articles on this dedicated blog webpage serving to provide those similarly impacted as we have been. These articles form our ‘Government Indian Givers‘ rebuke campaign against Service NSW. It continues have fresh articles added to it as we continue to have many grant recipients subject to this fake audit make contact with us for support and guidance.

We finally won our rebuke campaign against Service NSW after a year of Service NSW leaving us in a perpetual limbo on 30 April 2024, thus:

Service NSW is operating outside its contract and outside the law. It’s akin to Centrelink’s Robodebt. This is Robodebt Mark 2.0.

As a result of our blog campaign, many similarly impacted and stressed small business owners have reached out to us.

Although we finally won our own battle against the Orwellian Minns Ministry’s Service NSW, we continue to support others so affected.

Our campaign is not over until justice for all is restored, as per our ultimatum to Premier Chris Minns, vitally demand in the sacking of Service NSW Minister ultimately responsible, accountable and culpable for this extortion saga, current NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Jihad Dib MP (an unqualified and useless puppet of his bullying bureaucrat executives dominating Service NSW’s intimidatory culture).