THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has welcomed changes to the Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983 tabled by Small Business Minister Paul Papalia in the Western Australian Parliament on June 11.

The amendments will boost the powers of WA’s Small Business Commissioner David Eaton to receive and investigate complaints of mistreatment of subcontractors and small businesses on construction projects.

The reforms will also underpin the establishment of a specialised investigations and inquiry unit within the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) aimed at improving corporate and government behaviour and removing unfair practices.

“This legislation is a step in the right direction,” Ms Carnell said. ”Both Minister Papalia, and Commissioner Eaton have been advocating in this space for a number of years.

The Bill will expand the Commissioner’s current investigative and reporting functions enabling him to consider the actions of the private, local and state government sectors that affect the commercial activity of small business.

Ms Carnell also welcomed plans for WA to become the first state to establish statutory trusts to protect payments to subcontractors.

“These are two pieces of legislation that will increase protections for subcontractors and small businesses,” Ms Carnell said.

WA Attorney-General John Quigley is preparing a cabinet submission on statutory trusts to be presented later this year, in preparation for tabling in Parliament early next year.

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THE Queensland Resources Council has welcomed the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to upgrading the Townsville to Mount Isa rail line and reducing rail charges as a new driver in investment, exports and jobs from the State’s North West Minerals Province.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the announcement ahead of the Budget by Deputy Premier Jackie Trad of $380 million over five years to upgrade the line and reduce user charges by $20 million per annum was a commitment of confidence in the resources sector, particularly copper, zinc and lead.

Mr Macfarlane said the investment built upon the work, which QRC has been engaged in with Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham and State Development Minister Cameron Dick, to prepare a blueprint for the North West Minerals Province.

“The potential for the North West is enormous. Already resources – mining and mineral processing – contributes $1.7 billion or more than a third of the region’s economy and supports almost 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs or almost three-quarters of the region’s workforce,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“By reinvesting in the rail line, the Government can work with industry to create more wealth, more exports and more jobs for Queenslanders. It will create opportunities in the North West through to Townsville and the Port as well as to supplying businesses across the State.”

“We are keen to work with the Government on the staging of the upgrade to securing the return on this investment for all Queenslanders as soon as possible.

“Through the Blueprint and the draft North West Queensland Economic Diversification Strategy the Government has identified the importance of common user infrastructure to the region’s development.”

The Government has stated: “Common user infrastructure provides the opportunity to drive down development costs for individual projects, with multiple users contributing and benefiting from infrastructure such as road, rail and port, electricity, gas and water or mineral processing infrastructure.”

Mr Macfarlane said the importance of the commitment to upgrading the rail line was highlighted by the recent devastating flooding.

“We have seen Queensland Rail just complete an outstanding job. As a result of a 11-week QR operation, the line re-opened ahead of schedule and has resulted in reduced transport times by around 50 minutes,” he said.

“This rail line is a key transport corridor for Queensland’s metals industry which contributed $9.3 billion to the State’s economy last financial year, supported more than 50,000 full-time jobs and paid $1.3 billion in wages.”

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THE Queensland State Budget released today is a mixed bag for business, Australian Industry Group Queensland head, Shane Rodgers, said on the budget's release on June 11.

"While there is some well targeted investment in industry support programs, the budget introduces a higher payroll tax for thousands of state businesses as well as land tax increases that will likely be passed on to companies leasing property," Mr Rodgers said.

"Payroll tax changes are a two-edged sword. The lifting of the threshold point for payroll tax and continuation of targeted concessions is offset by increases to businesses with wage bills above $6.5 million.

"We welcome the continued commitment to the Advance Queensland program as well as the investment in skills development. In particular, we welcome the 'micro-credentialing' pilot and the commitment to higher-level apprenticeship programs.

"However, industry is looking for budgets that provide clear incremental steps towards a reliable, 30-year plan for the State.

"Instead we have something of a Bohemian Rhapsody budget – 'easy come, easy go' with higher mining royalties and a 'little high, a little low' on debt and infrastructure spending respectively. It is a collection of ideas in search of a bigger narrative.

"We welcome the renewed commitment to some big infrastructure projects, but the trend spending on infrastructure is still too low in a growing state," Mr Rodgers said,

"The need to deliver the State's infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner means that much more must be done to identify funding sources to drive a pipeline of future productivity lifting infrastructure projects.

"This includes the further development of structured public-private partnership policies that can lower the risks faced by private investors and attract more private sector investments while reducing upfront costs to the public.

"While a reasonable level of debt for long-term infrastructure can be justified, this is starting to sneak towards the red zone with no pay down of debt in the foreseeable future. This is risky when there is future uncertainty around state income streams," Mr Rodgers said.

"The State relies heavily on royalties from mining and will need to work hard to preserve faith in Queensland as a reliable investment environment for all areas of industry. There will also need to be a disciplined approach to public sector spending for the business sector to have confidence in the State's fiscal stability.

"Queensland needs to start looking at the four-year budget forward estimates cycle as a clear interim step towards a 30-year transformative plan for the State rather than a collection of short-term initiatives. When this happens the climate for business and jobs growth will be much stronger," Mr Rodgers said.

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has welcomed plans by the Victorian Government to establish a $250 million Business Growth Fund to help small and medium businesses access capital, and looks forward to seeing further details about the fund.

“I’m supportive of any initiative that gives SME operators access to funding at a time when they are being heavily impacted by tightening requirements by lenders,” Ms Carnell said.

“We know that the biggest barrier to SME growth is access to finance.

“While we understand the design of the fund has yet to be finalised, it should be focused on long-term funding solutions for SMEs.

“Ideally, the fund would allow SMEs to access amounts between $250,000 and $5 million, with terms up to seven years.

“The involvement of superannuation funds in providing an initial pool of capital is also something we have previously recommended.”

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