WHO WINS the marginal seats will determine the upcoming election and the vote of small business people in these seats cannot be underestimated, says the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA).

Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA commented on the critical importance that small business will play in this Federal election, where small business people count for large numbers of voters in marginal seats. COSBOA will focus on the small business community being informed on key policy issues, and he warns that transparency should be at the heart of this election.

“Small business people in electorates across Australia will play a vital part in the election. They make up between 8% - 16% of voters, on average around 11.7% per electorate.  This is significant when margins are as low as 0.2% for contested seats. There is no denying that the vote of every small business owner and those working for them count,” said Mr Strong.

Small business represents a significant number of voters in marginal seats across Australia. For example, in the seat of McEwen (VIC) there is a 0.2% margin and the small business community makes up 9.4% of voters. In Eden-Monaro (NSW), the margin is 0.6% and small business is 11.3% of voters, while in Capricornia (QLD) the margin is 0.8% and small businesses make up 11.6% of voters.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy of a Federal Election and focusing on the major two parties, but communities need to look to at the individuals who will representing their community and what they stand for. Small businesses impact everyone’s day-to-day lives, from local accountants, gyms, cafes and grocers to health practitioners and owner drivers. We need a government with a clear direction that includes key policies to support small business, then the entire community benefits and Australia’s cultural fabric gains strength.

“It cannot be stressed enough the importance of being informed on policy when casting a vote. Small business drives the economy and supports a diverse culture. To disadvantage this sector would be disastrous,” said Mr Strong.

COSBOA has outlined the key policy issues that need to be front and centre for small businesses in the upcoming election. These include Competition, Workplace Relations, Telecommunications, B2B Communications, Health, Training, Financing and Superannuation*.

Above all else, COSBOA says the main election theme needs to be about transparency in government.

“There must be an end to secret big union and big business influence on policy and process. It is not just small business people that suffer from covert influence, it’s also medium businesses, non-employing independent contractors and Australian workers. The economy cannot be managed effectively in back rooms and dark places,” warned Mr Strong.

An Effects Test in Competition (Section 46)

As announced by the Turnbull Government, when the election is over this must be enacted.

The Road Transport Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) must not be reinstated

If road safety is to be achieved, it won’t be through the workplace relations system.

Health of the self-employed person must be considered

this is particularly important for mental health; we need equality in consideration and responsibility for health where everyone counts, including the self-employed and employees.

Reform of Vocational Education and Training (VET)

The current system is failing workers, unemployed, businesses and productivity. Small business needs to be funded for training through their own businesses and sectors.

Efficiency from Employment Service Providers

Unemployed people and employers are not given the service needed from many of these government funded providers - provide assessment of performance by associations.

Ensure large businesses pay their tax

most big businesses pay their tax, the ones that don’t need to be brought to task.

Telecommunications, Technology & Innovation

Get the NBN happening faster, ensure fair access to telecommunications and lower cost for businesses and consumers.

B2B communications

There are billions to be saved in time and money if businesses can communicate faster and more efficiently. We need to support the Digital Business Council and e-invoicing.

Workplace Relations

Focus on small workplaces; use plain English in awards and agreements and create a small workplace industrial award and remove the industry/union cartels.

Superannuation

Remove employers from the superannuation collection process and place it in PAYG. Billions will be saved in administration costs for employers and funds.

The threshold for defining a small business must be up to $10m

This change picks up an additional 90,000 businesses who are still small businesses who employ, innovate and add to culture and diversity.

Financing for Small Business

The issues with banks, Fintech, P2P lending and financing in general needs urgent attention.

For more information on COSBOA, visit www.cosboa.org.au

http://www.cosboa.org.au/election-2016/ 

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HEAVY VEHICLE permit processing times by local councils have improved in three of the five participating States, during the March quarter.

NHVR Sal Petroccitto welcomed the efforts from local councils to work with the heavy vehicle industry, as part of the latest release of data showing permit consent requests and heat maps.

“The work of local councils, coupled with the NHVR’s expanding non-permit networks, is reducing the burden on industry and road managers,” Mr Petroccitto said.

“The NHVR recently established a national Performance Based Scheme Truck and Dog network which will further reduce the requirement for permits.

“We have also signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Local Government Association of Queensland to support their councils to improve their service delivery standards as road managers. We are now pursuing similar agreements with other states and local governments.

“There has also been an increase in the number of pre-approvals by local councils as part of our efforts to focus on grassroots engagement, particularly in regional NSW and South Australia.”

Mr Petroccitto said the data showed an improvement in local council processing times in Queensland (an average of 10.2 days down to 8.1), South Australia (10.6 days down to 10.3) and Tasmania (6.1 days down to 5.4). NSW local governments remained steady 15.4 days while Victorian local governments have had an increase from 6.6 days to 7.4 days.

“There were 5950 permits processed by state and local government in the January to March quarter, up by 50 per cent on the same period in 2015,” he said.

“These maps are just one tool to assist industry and road managers improve efficiency and productivity. We will continue to work with state governments to identify opportunities to further reduce the number of permits and improve processing turn-around times.”

NHVR’s data release for Quarter 3 of this financial year has been expanded to include heat maps showing the volume of permits being processed by state and local road managers, while highlighting areas where permit turn around is taking longer than the required 28 days.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator is Australia’s independent regulator for all vehicles over 4.5t gross vehicle mass. We administer one set of laws for heavy vehicles to deliver a comprehensive range of services under one regulator, one rulebook. For more information, please visit: www.nhvr.gov.au.

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AUSTRALIA’S resource industry has launched a campaign for 5 Reforms Over 5 Years to get our workplace relations system back on track, and ensure our resource industry and broader business community can compete globally and attract job-creating investment to Australia.
 
“Australia needs to do better on how we regulate work and workplace relations,” says AMMA chief executive Steve Knott.
 
“A modern and competitive workplace relations system needs to do more than provide protections for employees, it must also support individual choice, flexibility and agility to ensure businesses can invest, prosper and create job opportunities.
 
“These five reforms would deliver growth, productivity and a more positive operating environment for businesses of all sizes and across all industries.  They address significant flaws and imbalances in the current Fair Work laws that create barriers to employment, investment and doing business in Australia.”
 
The 5 Reforms over 5 Years draws from AMMA’s federal election survey in which over 100 leading resource employers, employing more than 85,000 Australians, detailed their experiences working under the Fair Work Act.  The five reform priorities are as follows:
 

1. Focus enterprise bargaining, and ensure legally protected strike action can only be taken over claims pertaining to the employment relationship, not union ‘wish lists’ of claims.
2. Return balance to union workplace entry laws by creating an enforceable code of conduct and removing union access to employee lunch rooms when other suitable meeting rooms are available.
3. Expand agreement making options to facilitate employment arrangements, both individual and collective, directly between employees and employers.
4. Reform unfair dismissal and ‘general protections’ laws to ensure employers are not forced to pay ‘go away money’ to settle claims without merit.
5. Replace the Fair Work Commission with modern, balanced institutions by creating an Australian Employment Tribunal and a separate Employment Appeals Tribunal.

“Australia has a choice - either remain stuck in a rigid and dysfunctional workplace relations system unfit for a highly-competitive global economy, or provide businesses with the flexibility to employ and keep Australians in work,” Mr Knott continues.
 
“Commodity prices have fallen off a cliff, CPI is in the negative, wages growth is at an all-time low and the Reserve Bank has reduced rates to record lows.  To avoid recession we must have the courage to again pursue genuine labour market reform.
 
“We are looking to the next term of government to end the paralysis that has characterised our workplace relations system following the vast re-regulation under the Rudd/Gillard government.
 
“Getting Australia’s workplace relations system back on track is critical to re-energising business with the confidence to invest, employ and create economic value for Australia now and in the future.”
 
AMMA has recently written to every Member of Parliament on these five reform priorities and key results from its resource industry election survey.  Visit amma.org.au/backontrack to learn more.

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is looking forward to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Payments Systems Board making a final decision on Friday 20th May to accept a number of recommendations on payments system reform.

Australian retailers are looking to regulation to deliver efficiency, fairness and resolve the apparent market failure. The ARA is optimistic that that the RBA is looking to reign for those selected few high cost cards which would otherwise continue to cost merchants more.

ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman, said this is will be a positive sign of action from the RBA’s Payments System Board (PSB) that should deliver balance to our payments system, providing safe and affordable credit for shoppers and reasonable cost of acceptance for Australian retailers.

“The ARA has been working with the RBA seeking to have merchant fees reduced and aiming to have companion cards regulated. We are hopeful that we will see the RBA accept previous recommendations when they meet this Friday,” he said.

“Retailers have been in an ideal position to comment on how this can be achieved with the ARA intimately involved in the process to reduce costs for our sector,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA considers the expected outcome a step in the right direction, through there are flaws that remain in the current system which are unlikely to be addressed on Friday. The largest of these issues is the lack of regulation of the plethora of very high cost and new payment systems coming on to the market.

Unregulated payment systems - including American Express, Diners’ Club, China Union Pay – carry greater costs to merchants than the regulated Visa and MasterCard. These excessive fees are forcing many retailers pass these higher costs onto their customers by surcharging.

“It is heartening that - at least in this case - the RBA is looking to reign for those selected few high cost cards which would otherwise continue to cost merchants more.

“Through the efforts of the ARA over many years we have been able to reduce costs on the three regulated payment schemes, EFTPOS, Visa and MasterCard,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA is advocating for the regulation of all card schemes to reduce costs on all cards. Retailers are encouraged to support this position by refusing to accept high cost cards and surcharging, and discouraging acceptance of the high cost payment schemes. 

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $300 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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