TRANSCRIPT
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson interview with Leon Delaney.
2GB Sydney
Subject: Economic Roundtable and Small Business
Ben Fordham
With the round table continuing in Canberra today, I wanted to give a voice to all those small businesses out there, and I've had a number of them writing to me over the past few days saying, what about us? Are they talking about us at all in Canberra?
Bruce Billson is the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, and he's a former Minister for Small Business and a few other things as well.
I remember how energetic Bruce was when he was a Minister, and I'm sure that energy is still with him. I haven't heard his voice in a while, Bruce Billson, good morning.
Bruce Billson
Ben it's fab to be in your aura with your listeners.
Ben Fordham
Great to be talking to you, do they give a stuff about small business in Canberra?
Bruce Billson
Well, we are hoping so, we're trying to make the point just like if you look after the cents, the dollars will look after themselves, and if you look after small business, the economy will look after itself.
There's a lot of challenges that small businesses have been facing. It’s been a really tough period, lots of headwinds, 45% of incorporated small businesses in the last full tax year weren't making a profit. There are a million and a half brilliant self-employed, independent contracting people and 3/4 of those who do that for their full-time livelihood take home less than average weekly wages.
So having small business bright on the radar screen and front of mind, that's got to be the focus of the round table.
A few little things yesterday that were relevant - discussion around training and thankfully everybody thought that adding another 1.5% levy wasn’t a good idea, but they did say, “Hey, we need to make sure we uplift capability in all of our workplaces”, and Ben, 93% of workplaces are actually small businesses, so let's get them bright on the radar screen.
Ben Fordham
I've got a fresh example for you, Bruce Billson, of red tape frustrating businesses.
There's a very popular café in Manly called the Roller's Bakehouse and last night, there was a meeting at Northern Beaches Council, the people who run the cafe they weren't invited to the meeting, but the result of the meeting is that they have been told they’re now banned from having outdoor seating.
Now, have a listen to this, they've been open 7 years, they've never had an accident because of the outdoors seating, they have never even had a complaint because of the outdoor seating, but they’ve been told they've got to get rid of it.
Bruce Billson
And how good with those bakers talking about servicing their customer’s needs, the customers love it, and even the Northern Beaches Council is talking about trying to activate the area. Hey, it's already happening, why are you bouncing these people when there's no concern to have that very positive aspect of that business wound up, but that's the sort of stuff small businesses are facing.
So today's a big day in the round table, they are talking about red tape Ben, but I'm hoping they are just not talking about red tape getting a mining project off the ground.
Yes, that's important, but I think you need a few dozen permits to open a bakery that serves customers in New South Wales and in other states, let's understand red tape is “gumming-up” the small business economy. The time that's spent, usually 10 o'clock at night, meeting those regulatory requirements, is time not spent delighting customers and finding new ways of providing the employment and opportunity in their community.
Ben Fordham
Another business owner writes to us saying
“I write you as a small hospitality business owner, who wants to share the real hardship we're facing today. In the past year, nearly 1 in 10 hospitality businesses have closed driven by rising costs and reduced demand. Rather than supporting job growth, the Federal Government wants to penalise businesses with payroll tax. The Government talks of increasing jobs for Australians, but few apply to work in hospitality, yet these rules are becoming stricter, and this business owner says, as a business owner with 2 separate entities, I'm grouped together for payroll tax. In short, small business operators like me feel the government is slowly killing us one by one.”
Bruce Billson
We should have that person at the round table. That's exactly the concern I hear every day Ben, that everyone's there taking their clip wanting a little bit more, I will just ask you to have this extra cost, we will just apply this additional levy and here is an extra requirement. Not realising a good hospitality business has a profit margin of maybe 6, 7 or 8%, so there's not a lot of wiggle room there, and when you take on board that leases as are going up, energy costs are through the roof and we've seen payroll go through the roof as well, the supply chain cost that your listeners would know, as cost of living pressures, they’re cost of doing business pressures, my goodness, what else can you squeeze out?
And these people are working extraordinarily long hours because they can't get the staff that they need. So, what happens then, the proprietor does the shifts. They do punishing hours, and there's hardly rivers of gold coming their way, yet these people create a third of all the wealth created in our economy, they provide 2 in 5 private sector jobs.
We have to get behind small and family businesses and energise enterprise.
Ben Fordham
Well, good on you for doing so in Canberra. This is Bruce Billson, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. You've always been a champion for small business.
I can remember one of your finest moments, can I take you back for a tick, to when you're a politician.
You were once holding a press conference, I don't know whether you remember this? When you're doing one of those press conferences, if an aeroplane flies over the top, everyone goes we've got to stop because the microphones pickup on the airplane noise, and I don't know the topic you were talking about, but as the plane came over the top, you just kept going and you said, “Listen to that roar, that's the roar of the Australian voters supporting this policy”.
Bruce Billson
This is true. That was a moment. I thought you were going to go to the one where I'm so positive, even my blood group is positive, but zingers like that don't help our small businesses, you advocating for them do, and can I say to all the small and family businesses listening your program, we see you, we value you, we honour you and our task should be to make our economy as supportive of your success as we can.
Ben Fordham
Go get ‘em Bruce, will talk to you soon. Bruce Billson former a Small Business Minister and these days, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.
And we want to echo his last comment, thank you to all those business owners out there because you think about it when you kids are growing up and they're looking for a job, it's those businesses that are going to employ them.