THE VECCI submission to the State Government’s regional review supports business growth and job creation throughout Victoria, according to Chief Executive Mark Stone.

Mr stone said, "VECCI has recently made a submission to the State Government’s Regional Service Delivery Model and Strategic Directions for Regional Policy Review, on behalf of businesses throughout Victoria.

"Our submission, based on extensive regional member consultation, reinforces the fact that the economic performance of our regional and rural communities over the past decade has been a standout feature of Victoria’s overall economic growth.

"It also notes the important role our regions will continue to play into the future, helping ease Melbourne’s population growth pressures and forge new trade, employment and investment opportunities."

Mr Stone said the message to policy makers is that regional growth needs to be accelerated through a series of reforms that include:

INFRASTRUCTURE: Fast track outstanding regional infrastructure projects including the:

• Ballarat Railway Station redevelopment
• Bendigo Airport redevelopment
• Geelong’s Yarra Street Pier reconstruction
• South Gippsland Highway upgrade
• Goulburn Valley Highway Shepparton bypass construction
• Mildura Riverfront Precinct redevelopment (Stage 2) 

LOCAL CONTENT: Aim for up to 20 per cent local content in all regional major projects and government purchasing.
 
DECENTRALISED GOVERNMENT: Further relocate key state government departments or agencies to regional areas.
 
SKILLS: Strengthen youth employment pathways, increase regional apprenticeships and traineeships and improve the quality of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system.
 
COSTS: Set a regional red and green tape reduction target of at least $100 million per annum by 2015/16.
 
TRADE: Enhance international connections and networks and ensure our agribusiness manufacturers and service industries capitalise on Free Trade Agreements.

"VECCI stands ready to work with the State Government to progress the outcomes of the Review, supporting continued regional growth and job creation," Mr Stone said.

The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the most influential business organisation in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au

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THE Palaszczuk Government’s proposed changes to Queensland’s work health and safety laws to provide unions unfettered workplace access would create an environment ‘rife for misuse of entry privileges’, national resource industry employer group AMMA told a parliamentary inquiry.

This week AMMA appeared at a hearing for the Queensland parliament’s Inquiry into the Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015, where it reiterated concerns outlined in its submission on behalf of the state’s resource employers.

The Bill proposes to reverse the previous Newman LNP Government’s amendments to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) that took effect in May 2014. It seeks to overturn a provision requiring union permit holders to give at least 24 hours’ notice to enter Queensland workplaces to investigate alleged safety breaches.

“AMMA supports a well-resourced inspectorate exercising appropriate powers to investigate alleged safety breaches. We do not support handing unions unrestricted access to worksites,” says AMMA senior workplace policy adviser Lisa Matthews, who appeared at the inquiry.

“Unions have a role to play in workplace safety that includes consulting with and advising members on safety issues. However, that role should not automatically extend to the immediate triage of incidents without appropriate notification.

“This is particularly relevant to safety critical resource operations where management, authorised inspectors and emergency teams must be able to immediately respond, investigate and act on serious incidents if and when they occur. Other less serious issues should be brought to the immediate attention of management.”

AMMA highlights that Australia’s other prominent ‘resources state’, Western Australia, would abstain from the same right of entry provisions that are proposed in the Queensland Bill.

AMMA also has concerns with the Bill’s proposed reinstatement of the power of elected health and safety representatives to order work to cease.

“While elected health and safety reps have a role in consulting with members of their work group, they should not be empowered to order work to cease. The potential for such powers to be used for industrial purposes is obvious,” Ms Matthews says.

“Everyone has a common law right to stop work if there is an imminent risk to health or safety, without being directed to do so by a health and safety representative. Our members have made a sustained cultural effort over many years to create an environment where all employees immediately identify, assess and act on safety risks. We are concerned these proposed changes would create a culture of ‘leaving it to someone else’.”

The changes implemented to the Work Health & Safety Act in Queensland by the former state LNP government followed a wide-ranging review and consultation with stakeholders.

Click here to read AMMA’s full submission to inquiry.

www.amma.org.au

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Joint statement by the Hon JB Hockey MP, Treasurer; Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann, Minister for Finance; the Hon Bruce Billson MP, Minister for Small Business:

THE hard working women and men of Australian small business were delivered surety to make the most of the Government’s Jobs and Small Business package today with key measures passing through the Parliament.

All small businesses can immediately deduct every asset costing less than $20,000 that they have purchased since Budget night and can continue to do so until the end of June 2017.

Small companies with a turnover of less than $2 million will benefit from a 1.5 per cent tax cut from 1 July 2015. This will mean we have delivered the lowest tax rate to small business since 1967.

With the passing of these measures we have delivered the lowest tax rate to small business since 1967 through our historic budget package.

The $5.5 billion Jobs and Small Business package is the biggest small business package in our nation’s history.

Since Budget night we have both travelled across the country meeting with a vast array of small business owners and their employees.

It is clear that they feel energised by the small business measures in our Budget and has given them the confidence to carefully invest in growing their business.

The Government is committed to ensuring Australia is the very best place to start and grow a small business. Our Jobs and Small Business package is creating the right conditions for Australian businesses to thrive and grow.

www.financeminister.gov.au

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ENCOURAGING small business to employ culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people will be the topic of tomorrow’s Education and Employment Committee public hearing.

The committee will meet with the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia (FECCA) to discuss the challenges that CALD people face when seeking employment – challenges such as prejudice, language and skills recognition. 

Advice on how small businesses can be encouraged to benefit from the range of unique skills and experience that CALD people can bring to the workplace will also be discussed along with improvements to existing workplace policies and practices.

Committee Chair, Ewen Jones MP, said CALD people have a range of positive attributes and skills that often remain unrecognised to potential employers.

“Encouraging businesses to recognise the advantages of employing CALD people would benefit the wider community and help to boost employment for this group,” he said.

Details of the hearing are as follows:

Date: Wednesday 17 June 2015
Time: 11:20 am – 12:45 pm
Venue: Committee Room 1R4, Parliament House, Canberra

Submissions to this inquiry are also welcome. For further information, including the full terms of reference and how to prepare a submission, please visit the committee’s website at www.aph.gov.au/SmallBusinessEmployment or contact the secretariat on (02) 6277 4573.

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