AN INCREASE to the minimum wage as suggested by Labor yesterday would be a devastating blow to small business operators across Australia, said the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman today.

THE FEDERAL Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters is holding three days of public hearings focussing on political donations and Section 44 of the Constitution.

Committee Chair Senator Linda Reynolds said the Committee would be hearing from subject matter experts in relation to these matters referred to the Committee for review. 

The public hearings relate to three of the Committee’s inquiries:

• Inquiry into the 2016 federal election (review of political donations);
• Inquiry into matters relating to Section 44 of the Constitution; and
• Inquiry into the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017.

Public hearing programs are available on the respective websites for each inquiry via https://www.aph.gov.au/em/.  

Public hearing details:

• Canberra
  Wednesday 31 January, from 9:30am to 4:40pm in room 2S3
  
• Melbourne
  Thursday 1 February, from 9:00am to 4:30pm in room G6, 55 St Andrews Place
  
• Sydney
  Friday 2 February, from 8:40am to 1:10pm in the Jubilee Room, Parliament of NSW

A live broadcast will be available at aph.gov.au/live. 

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie got it right when he said the Chinese must respect western culture according to the chairman of Mineralogy, Clive Palmer.

"Mineralogy has stood as the last sentry at the gate of Australian freedom and respect for the law  as Chinese Government owned companies have tried to steal Mineralogy resources,’’ Mr Palmer said in Brisbane today.

"What is worse is Australian governments have tried to help them by persecuting me and bowing to Chinese Government pressure.

"At the forefront of Australian values is respect for the rule of law and the independence of our judicial system.

“Respect needs to be shown in dealing with the government. It is a major mistake for groups associated with the Chinese government to fund Australian political parties such as the Labor Party and the Liberal Party.

“Chinese Australians, like all Australians, value Australian way of life. It is in the interest of all members of the Australian community to defend and protect our way of life and the rule of law,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“I would urge the leaders of the Labor and Liberal parties to instruct their parties and members not to receive foreign Government inspired donations and stand firm and protect the  rule of law in Australia,’’ he said.

Mineralogy has recently received a judgement in its favour for US$153 million against the largest Chinese Government owned company in the world, Citic Limited.

The Chinese-Government-owned company still has not paid the judgement and continues to export Australian resources without paying, Mr Palmer said.

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STEINHOFF Asia Pacific Group Holdings Pty Ltd (Steinhoff Asia Pacific) operates a number of high performing retail brands in Australia and New Zealand including Freedom, Fantastic Furniture, Best & Less, Snooze, Harris Scarfe, Plush, OMF, Postie and Bay Leather Republic. 

Group CEO of Steinhoff Asia Pacific, Michael Ford said: “The Steinhoff Asia Pacific business is an independent, profitable and financially strong business delivering positive cash flows.  The business has its own banking facilities here in Australia. 

"Steinhoff Asia Pacific is not party to any of the banking facilities of its parent company Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. In addition, the Steinhoff Asia Pacific business is not dependent on working capital support from our parent company, Steinhoff International N.V.

Mr ford said Steinhoff Asia Pacific continues to work constructively and openly with its local banking partners in Australia.  To reinforce its commitment to the local market and the strength of its local businesses, Steinhoff Asia Pacific has appointed Minter Ellison and Ferrier Hodgson to provide strategic advice in relation to legal, financial and corporate matters.

He said Steinhoff Asia Pacific’s local banking partners supported these appointments. Mr Ford said the appointment of experienced advisors was a prudent step by Australian management in circumstances where its parent company is working through significant uncertainty.  Steinhoff Asia Pacific and its business are not in distress and are trading normally, he said.

Michael Ford added: “For all our brands in the Steinhoff Asia Pacific group, and our 10,000 employees, it is business as usual.  We are now in our peak trading period and have had some exceptionally strong trading across our retail brands. 

"Total system sales (including franchisee sales) across Australia and New Zealand are up 3.1 percent for the 12 months ended 30 November 2017 compared to the same period in the prior year.  And for the month of December so far, System sales are up 12.4 percent compared to the same period last year. 

"These are healthy sales figures for a business group that is clearly performing well.”

www.steinhoff.com.au

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WITH the Australian retail industry employing over 10 percent of the total working population, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) strongly believe that casual workers and their flexible hours are crucial to the survival of retail.

Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the ARA, said restricting casual employment would only bring further challenges to Australian retailers who are already facing a difficult operating environment.

“With the Christmas period coming to an end, and crowds of shoppers entering stores across the country during increased trading hours, the flexibility of casual retail employees is crucial,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Last week we saw foot-traffic increase by 13 percent year-on-year, and without the flexibility of casual employees, Australian retailers would not have been able to staff their stores adequately during the busiest time of the year.”

The ARA believe retailers see employees as a vital part of their business, and therefore know retailers would be happy to offer a fixed number of hours to part-time employees, however Mr Zimmerman continues to stress the importance of flexibility needed in the sector.

“If the unions want permanent employment, then we would need to see more flexibility around the hours of work, and the notification period of roster changes for part-time employees,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Under the current General Retail Industry Award (GRIA) retailers are restricted in their ability to offer additional hours to part-time employees, and must provide part-time employees seven days written notice if there will be any changes to the roster.

“With unpredictable trading hours in the industry, retailers need to be able to add hours to staff without paying overtime penalties, especially during busy trading periods like Christmas.”

The ARA understands from various retailers that the majority of casual staff enjoy the flexibility in choosing their own hours, and would like to maintain their casual loading as casual staff are adequately compensated for their type of employment.

“Last minute changes always arise in retail and if retailers need to provide their staff seven days notice for each change to the roster, the sector will begin to suffer,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“With ongoing challenges affecting the retail industry and rising energy costs, small and medium retailers will not have the capability to give the required notice to part-time employees and would then end up staffing their stores themselves.”

The ARA believe the existing GRIA provisions around part-time employees and the inefficiencies around Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBA)s emphasise the necessity of casual employees.

“This ploy is just another example of the unions losing the fight before the Fair Work Commission,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“The unions already ran a case to convert casual retail employees to permanent retail employees after six months, and the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission assessed the case and unanimously rejected it.

“The unions need to understand the Fair Work Commission was established as the independent umpire, by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, when she was Minister for Employment, and the unions must accept the decision of the Full Bench,” Mr Zimmerman said.

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 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 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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WITH crowds of consumers flooding in-store and website traffic peaking to its highest this year, Boxing Day proved to be another successful day for retailers across the country as the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) tipped this year’s Boxing Day sales to reach $2.4 billion.

Russell Zimmerman, ARA Executive Director, said bricks-and-mortar retailers were happy with the steady stream of customers entering their stores throughout the day and were thankful to shoppers who waited patiently in queues due to the rise in foot-traffic across physical retailers throughout the nation.

“This year the ARA predicted retailers would trade almost $2.4 billion this Boxing Day, and judging by the increase in foot-traffic and shoppers lining outside bricks-and-mortar stores, I think we may have hit the mark,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Every year Boxing Day crowds seem to grow, however with the growth of online retail the ARA believe many Australians got their bargains online this year, with consumers choosing to click through websites to take advantage of the best sales of the year.”

This Boxing Day, Myer expected to have 1.6 million customers flood through their doors after launching their biggest Stocktake Sale with up to 70 percent off a wide range of brands and products.

“Aussie consumers enjoyed savings across the board this Boxing Day, with 30-50 percent off selected clothing from Cue, MARCS, David Lawrence, Country Road, Seed and French Connection,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Myer’s super Stocktake Sale also include up to 70 percent  off cookware by Circulon, up to 50% off small appliances and up to 40% off women’s clothing by Mossman, Tommy Hilfiger and Wayne Cooper.”

As Boxing Day is only the start of the sale period, the ARA and Roy Morgan Research expect shoppers to spend $17.9 billion from December 26, 2017 to January 15, 2018.

“We anticipate consumers to continue taking advantage of the best retail sales of the year for the next two or three weeks, both in-store and online,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The category tipped to enjoy the biggest increase in post-Christmas sales over the next three weeks will be the Other Retailing category as the ARA and Roy Morgan have predicted a 4% boost in post-Christmas sales for this category.

“With online shopping accounting for more than 7% of total retail sales and looking to account for 15% in the next five years we believe physical retailers will not be the only retailers to receive an increase in post-Christmas sales,” Mr Zimmerman said.

ARA Boxing Day 2017 sales predictions , December 26, 2017

Boxing Day 2017 sales

[ARA]

ARA and Roy Morgan Research post-Christmas sales predictions

December 26, 2017 – January 15, 2018

2017/2018 Post-Christmas sales growth by category

[ARA / Roy Morgan]

2017/2018 Post-Christmas sales growth by state

[ARA / Roy Morgan]

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 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 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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