PM Transcripts

Reducing bureaucratic red tape, simplifying tax compliance and exempting small business from unfair dismissal laws are the centre-pieces of the next Coalition Government’s plans for small business.

The policy, ‘Getting on with Business’, also provides money for small business training and advice, e-commerce promotion and protection for small business from union interference.

Providing certainty and stability in both the rules governing small business and the economic environment in which it operates are key aspects of the next Howard Government’s agenda for the business sector.

The clear message from small business is that the sector wants stability and certainty, not major change and costly confusion threatened by Labor’s ‘Rollback’. We will continue to work with small business to fine-tune the administrative aspects of the tax system.

Labor has announced millions of dollars of promises for small business with more than 90 per cent of the money going to less than one per cent of small businesses.

The remaining money is to pay for a committee to work out the details of their proposed BAS changes. Small business deserves better than this.

The Coalition’s Getting on with Business provides further relief for small business;

• The Coalition is determined to further reform the Unfair Dismissal laws because it is a top priority for small business. We are committed to an exemption from Unfair Dismissal claims for small business.
• We will simplify procedures for reaching and registering workplace agreements. Approval of Certified Agreements will be possible through documentation, eliminating the need for a formal hearing unless requested.
• The Coalition will protect small business from unwarranted union interference by restricting unions’ right of entry into small business workplaces and boosting the power of the ACCC to take representative legal action on behalf of small businesses that are affected by unlawful secondary boycotts.
• We will enhance direct Federal Government assistance to small business through a $24 million extension of the popular Small Business Assistance Officer (SBAO) initiative. This initiative has been piloted in forty-six rural and regional areas since July this year and involves Small Business Assistance Officers providing small business operators with personalised advice on a range of federal, state and local government issues. The SBAO initiative will be expanded to take in metropolitan as well as regional areas, and additional emphasis will be placed upon the promotion of trade and export assistance options.
• A new $36 million Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP) will consolidate the Small Business Enterprise Culture Program and the Small Business Incubator initiative. The Small Business Assistance Program will fund small business incubators and projects that promote enterprise in the small business sector, as well as other initiatives that promote small business development.
• We will reduce red tape for small business through a new $3 million initiative to streamline Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and Australian Tax Office (ATO) reporting systems. Currently, both agencies collect similar information from businesses for company registration (ASIC) and Australian Business Number (ABN) applications. These processes will be rolled into one to cut red tape for proprietary companies across Australia. This initiative builds on the Government’s recent commitment to abolish annual company returns for Australia’s seven hundred thousand small proprietary companies and to cap their annual ASIC fees at $200 for the next three years.

The fundamental prerequisites of a business friendly environment are in place – debt reduction, low interest rates, low inflation. We have delivered:

•  taxation reform, fair trading reform, and fairer more flexible workplaces;
•  a three month qualifying period for new employees under federal awards before an Unfair Dismissal claim can be made against an employer;
•  Coalition Cabinet processes to require Cabinet submissions with a potential bearing on small business to be formally assessed prior to consideration by Cabinet Ministers;
•  A mandatory 30-day payment period for Commonwealth departments and agencies for purchases under $5 million; and
•  A $21 million package of measures to reduce red tape and promote the take-up of e-commerce by small business

The tough decisions taken and gains made by the Coalition over the last five and a half years have occurred despite continuing opposition from Labor. Small business knows that a return to Labor’s tax and spend ways and union-controlled workplace relations regime would reverse the gains Australia has made in recent years. Small Business would pay the highest price for Labor’s economic incompetence through higher interest rates.

The Liberal and National Parties are the only parties that understand and are genuinely concerned about small business. We will continue to work for a better deal for small business – Getting on with Business is another important step in that direction.

19 October 2001