THIS week in Brisbane, the Council of Small Business of Australia’s (COSBOA) Vodafone National Small Business Summit will highlight the vital need for Australians to support the country’s 2 million small businesses.

“With small businesses contributing $3.4 billion to the economy, employing 4.5 million Australians and spearheading industry innovation, initiatives to encourage consumers to show their support for small business cannot be underestimated. However, to ensure that this growth and support continues, the creation of policies that contribute to the stability and growth of small business must continue to safeguard a successful future for Australia,” says Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA. 

Mr Strong continues: “Small businesses bring diversity to our highstreets, without support to encourage consumers to visit them and initiatives to enable their growth makes for difficult times.”

American Express, a National Business Summit sponsor and COSBOA partner acknowledged the role that big business plays in supporting local businesses.

“American Express founded the national Shop Small movement, and over the past four years has drawn attention to the vital contribution that small businesses make to the Australian economy. We have encouraged individuals, businesses and communities to get behind their local small businesses and show their support”, says Katrina Konstas, Vice President American Express Global Merchant Services.

“We are proud to be a sponsor of this year’s COSBOA Vodafone National Small Business Summit and to be involved in an event that prioritises the needs and interests of the small business community.”

Shopping small also extends to shopping locally – a movement that Ian Harrison, Chief Executive of the Australian Made Campaign, knows the benefits of all too well.

Mr Harrison says the famous green and gold kangaroo logo has been helping producers and consumers for more than 30 years, by giving shoppers confidence in what they are purchasing, and by providing Australian small businesses with an effective marketing tool. 

“Australia has a world-renowned reputation for producing high quality products, which is why making the most of country-of-origin branding can provide Australian small businesses with a powerful competitive advantage. The recent change to mandatory food labelling laws, for example, is an initiative that contributes positively to small business owners, shoppers and the economy by increasing transparency, generating healthy and sustainable competition and increasing consumer choice,” says Mr Harrison. 

Speaking at the Summit is Ben Laurie, Strategic Acquisition Manager at Accertify, Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of American Express, who will present on an ecommerce and small business panel alongside Michael Cooley (Google) and Emma Dobson (Digital Business Council and Westpac), while American Express will headline the Summit Breakfast on the final day of the Conference, and Ian Harrison will present an exclusive case study on the work of the AMC in promoting small business.

To register for the Summit, visit: www.nationalsmallbusinesssummit.com.au

Hashtag: #NSBS16

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THE impact of Brexit on regional growth and the current obsession with monetary policy are amongst the threats to the global banking and financial sector likely to dominate discussion at a major international conference on banking stability be held in Sydney later this month.

The Banking and Financial Stability Conference, hosted by the University of Sydney Business School, will bring together senior representatives of the US Federal Reserve Bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Bank for International Settlements and The Bank of Finland.

Leading Banking and Finance experts from London’s Cass Business School; Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley; ANU; New York University; Fordham University; UNSW; Monash; the University of Melbourne and NZ’s Victoria University will also take part. 

“The pull-back in bank lending to the Asia-pacific by global but in particular European banks can be expected as a result of Brexit and this is a major concern for the region’s investment and growth,” said Conference Co-chair, Associate Professor Eliza Wu. “This trend started with the GFC continued into the European debt crisis and now with Brexit.”

Associate Professor Wu went on to say that “enhancing financial stability in the face of unprecedented monetary policy regimes that have been implemented around the world and the new risks that have developed within the global financial system will remain a major challenge for policy makers and a concern for those attending the Sydney Conference”.

“The most immediate concern is the increased level of uncertainty and volatility expected and experienced in the international financial markets due to the Brexit vote,” added Co-chair, Professor Suk-Joong Kim. “Brexit has cast doubt over London as the world’s most important financial centre and the future of the international banks that operate there.”

Conference Details:

Date:               Tuesday 12^th July 2016

Time:               8.00 AM to 5.40 PM (Conference Program below)

Venue:             University of Sydney Business School

                        Abercrombie Building, Cnr Abercrombie and Codrington Streets, Darlington

Contact:           Trevor Watson 02 9351 1918 or 0418 648 099

Further information

http://sydney.edu.au/business/finance/banking_and_financial_stability

Conference Program:

8.15-8.30  Conference Opening and Dean’s Welcome – Professor Gregory Whitwell

8.30-9.25  Dr Eli Remolona, Chief Representative for Asia and the Pacific of the Bank For International Settlements The rise of regional banking in Asia and the Pacific

9.25-10.20  Professor Thorsten Beck, Professor of Banking and Finance, Cass Business School, City University London Lending Concentration, Bank Performance and Systemic Risk.

10.35-11.30 Professor Kose John, Charles William Gerstenberg Professorship in Banking and Finance, New York University & Laura H. Carnell Professor of Finance, Temple University Interstate Banking, Bank Information, and Corporate Acquisitions

11.30-12.30 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr Loretta Mester, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Financial stability Considerations for Monetary Policy

1.30-2.30 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr Luci Ellis, Head of Financial Stability Department, Reserve Bank of Australia Financial Stability and the Banking System

2.30-3.25  Professor Kevin Davis, Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne & Monash University & Australian Centre for Financial Studies Hunting the BIRP: Is there a Bail In Risk Premium in Australian bank hybrids?

3.40-4.35 Professor Nadia Massoud, Ian Potter Chair of Finance & Associate Dean of Research, Melbourne Business School Why and How Do Banks Lay off Credit Risk? The Choice between Retention, Loan Sales and Credit Default Swaps

4.35-5.30 Professor Iftekhar Hasan, Professor of Finance and Corrigan Chair in International Business and Finance, Fordham University & Scientific Adviser, Bank of Finland The real impact of Basel ratings-based capital rules on the finance-growth nexus

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Entries close July 15, 2016

RETAILERS keen to enter the 2016 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards have just two weeks to do so, with nominations now extended until July 15 as a result of popular demand.

Australian retailers and individuals can nominate themselves online across nine Awards categories at http://retail.org.au/2016-retail-awards.

“The calibre of entries in the eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards has been consistently high over  the years of eftpos’ involvement, and we’re pleased to see a similar level of strength and success reflected in the 2016 nominations to date,” said Bruce Mansfield, Managing Director of eftpos Australia.

“I urge all Australian retailers to consider entering these prestigious Awards. Australian retailers are notorious for being hard workers, but when it comes to recognition and reward, they can be shy to stand up,” he said.

Last year’s winner of Australia’s top retail accolade, the eftpos Australian Retailer of the Year, Lush, has gone on to further grow and improve its business, while for others, taking home an award has opened doors to previously unavailable opportunities.

Nominations close July 15, with winners to be announced at the 2016 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards breakfast in Melbourne on August 10. A special early bird ticket price is available to those who purchase tickets to the Awards event before July 15.

Categories include:

eftpos Retailer of the Year

Shop For Shops Store Fitout of the Year

Temando Multichannel Retailer of the Year

Frontline Recruitment Retail Employer of the Year

Rest Industry Super Retail Employee of the Year

FCB Retail HR Rising Star of the Year

Pronto Software Retail Innovator of the Year

ARA Retail Institute Retail Graduate of the Year

ARA Independent Retailer of the Year

About the eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards

First held in the 1970s, the eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards are the nation’s longest running and most prestigious retail event, recognising and rewarding outstanding retail businesses, innovations, and individuals across all sectors of retail.

Relaunched in 2008, the Awards culminate in the annual 2016 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards breakfast at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt on August 10.

In 2016 there are nine Awards categories, judged by an experienced and distinguished panel of impartial fellow retailers, the 2016 awards event encompasses nine categories including, eftpos Retailer of the Year, Shop For Shops Store Fitout of the Year, Temando Multichannel Retailer of the Year, Frontline Recruitment Retail Employer of the Year, Rest Industry Super Retail Employee of the Year, FCB Retail Rising Star of the Year, Pronto Software Retail Innovator of the Year, ARA Retail Institute Retail Graduate of the Year, ARA Independent Retailer of the Year.

To enter the Awards or purchase tickets to the eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards Breakfast event, visit http://retail.org.au/2016-retail-awards/

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About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $293 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

TODAY, Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) expressed its concern about the election status, which is creating uncertainty. In particular, the lack of facts presented in the arguments of the Labor Party.

Over the course of the campaigning period promises have been made, but COSBOA is concerned that Labor has won votes on false arguments and information, particularly around penalty rates and competition policy, says the association’s CEO, Peter Strong.

“We are concerned that the Labor Party is embracing the needs of a few big unions and their big business partners, where most union members are to be found,” said Mr Strong.

Left unchecked, big business and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), a trade union representing workers across the retail, fast food and warehouse industries, will see Australia’s productivity and standard of living fall, warns COSBOA.   

Last month, it was ruled by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) that the SDA organised for its partner companies to pay lower than award rates on weekends to help subsidise its members who work during the week, leaving students and other weekend workers, who are desperate for extra income, out in the cold.  It also meant that the only people who pay high penalty rates on weekends are small business people.

Mr Strong continues: “Why a two tiered workplace relations system? It’s because the unions continue to influence policy to their favour, thereby meaning the ALP continues to support big business, even though that’s to the detriment of everyone else – employees and small businesses.”

COSBOA also adds that it’s not just the SDA guilty of influencing the Government to pander to the needs of big business; it’s also the likes of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which has most of its members in two major transport companies, Toll Holdings and Linfox.

Mr Strong adds: “These two companies are intent on forcing owner drivers off the road, through actions such as the Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration, which sets national minimum payments for certain contractor drivers in the road transport industry, specifically small business people, making competition even more difficult.”

COSBOA is also aware that the CFMEU (the construction union) is well connected with non-Australian construction companies - Multiplex, John Holland Group, CIMIC (Leighton) - who want to limit access to work by sub-contractors and non-union labour.

“Interestingly, if the ALP embraced some good small business policies, changes to competition law, such as enacting the Effects Test, and increasing the threshold for definition of a small business to $10m straightway, then there is a good chance they would have picked up a few more votes and formed government. 

“Instead, they’ve followed Union orders, which does not give all ‘a fair go’ or act in the spirit of competition. Let’s hope the ALP revisits their small business policies, lest they fail the economy and fail workers,” finished Mr Strong.  

This week, 6–8 July, these issues will be raised with small business representatives, government and industry leaders in Brisbane at the COSBOA’s Vodafone National Small Business Summit.

The premier policy event will ensure that the voice of small business is heard and work to safeguard this community of more than 3 million small businesses, making sure the needs of small business people are front and centre.

For more information visit: http://www.cosboa.org.au

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