Pandemic bullies come in all shapes & sizes

The shrivelled soul of small business in Australia was on view in April 2020.....

Image found on Twitter

The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 2020:

A chamber of commerce on Sydney's north shore has been forced to back down from comments demanding local businesses refuse entry to customers and staff who had not downloaded the COVIDSafe tracing app. 

Ku-ring-gai Chamber of Commerce secretary Peter Vickers said he emailed between 1500 to 2000 businesses across its local government area on Monday directing them to ensure their customers had downloaded the app....

But Mr Vickers followed this email with another in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after some of the email's recipients informed him that such a direction was illegal.  

The federal rules governing the app's operation state that a person must not coerce another into downloading the app, or refuse them entry or services on the grounds they have not done so. 

Mr Vickers clarified in the subsequent email that businesses should only encourage people to install the app, while also taking aim at federal Health Minister Greg Hunt's decision to make the app voluntary. 

"In fact he (Mr Hunt) should have ordered Apple and Android to compulsorily download the app to all phones in Australia," Mr Vickers wrote. 

"The government forced businesses to close and even had the police chase sunbathers down the beach. They should be using the same force to open up again."..... 

He said the fact the app was optional should give businesses the right to refuse service. 

"You don't have to download the app but businesses should have the freedom to say we don't want infected people coming into our businesses."

Anthropomorphic Global Warming in Australia 2018

Australians have been told repeatedly that global warming leading to climate change is real.

The continent is becomng dryer, record air and ground temperatures are no longer novel, heavy rain events are predicted to become more destructive, mass flora and fauna extinctions are expected and the coastline is beginning to erode faster than at the historical rate.

It's not just happenng in Australia, other continents are also experience climate change and, the one factor most have in common is generations of ever increasing greenhouse gas emissions produced by both households and industries in metropolitan, regional and rural areas.

Everyone bears some responsibility for where the world finds itself......

NDEVR Environmental:

In the first quarter of 2018 Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions will be over MT 7.3 CO₂-e  higher than the national Paris ERT commitment made on our behalf by the Australian Government.

Over one quarter of Australia’s CO₂-e budget for 2013 to 2050 has already been spent in the last 4.75 years.

AUSTRALIA’S ANNUAL EMISSIONS, CALENDAR YEAR TO SEPTEMBER 2017*

* This graph includes both published Government NGGI data and Ndevr Environmental projections for Q4/FY2017 and Q1/FY2018

BY  SECTOR 2005-2017

~~~~~~~~~~~

World-wide, land used for non-animal and animal-based agriculture in 2017 was estimated to produce 24% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.

In Australia agriculture was responsible for est. 85.03 CO2-eMt or about 16% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2013:

66.3% from enteric fermentation in ruminant livestock (eructation and flatulence)

15.5% from agricultural soils

10.8% from prescribed burning of savannas

3.9% from manure management

2.4% from liming and urea application

and the remainder from rice cultivation and field burning of agricultural residues.

Total greenhouse gas emissions from world-wide food systems in 2012 contributed between 19% to 29% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030 the combined greenhouse gas emissions from global food production is expected to double.

~~~~~~~~~~~

National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting, Australia’s highest 10 greenhouse gas emitters 2016–17

Effect of proposed company tax cuts according to Australian Prime Minister Malcom Bligh Turnbull - "All boats will rise"

As households across the country began the count down to the holiday season, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull smugly informed an ABC interviewer that as a result of a proposed cut in the company tax rate* everyone’s income will increase – “All boats will rise”.

This is another way of referring to that now legendary faux economic theory popular with right-wing politicians – the Trickle Down Effect.

This assertion is tested in an Australian Treasury working paper ANALYSIS OF THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF A COMPANY TAX CUT (May 2016) which modelled a tax cut reducing company tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent – presumably implemented over the 10 years to 2026-27 proposed by government.

Yes, this working paper estimates that for “a static representative household” “calibrated to match the expenditure, income patterns, and taxes faced by aggregate Australian households” real wages will rise if all other factors in the economy remain unchanged.

So it seems that Turnbull's claim is genuine - or is it?

What Turnbull fails to say is that this “real” wage rise will probably be a paltry est. 1.0-1.1% in total, will take at least 20 years to achieve and will only come about if the average individual also works longer hours.

Based on ABS May 2017 All Employees Average Weekly Total Earnings and an optimistically estimated average annual wages growth of 1.9 per cent; at the end of those 20 years an average worker will have received a total wage increase of est. $851 to $929. Spread out over those 20 years that works out to between 81-89 cents a week extra in his/her pay packet as a direct result of the Turnbull Government’s company tax cut.

Because in real life these company tax cuts are staged and, each stage would have a lag time, no-one is going to see 81-89 cents in their pay packets anytime soon. Indeed a great many people will probably never see this meagre increase at all as the real wages of many low-skilled workers haven't increased alongside higher-skilled workers for the last seven years and there is no indication as to if or when this trend will end.

Over this same twenty-year time period any increase in company income as a result of a 5 per cent cut in the company tax rate would result in millions to one billion plus being added to the bottom lines of a significant number of medium to large corporations. With such savings being just as likely to be diverted into bonuses paid to senior management or paid as dividends to shareholders as they are to being reinvested in a business.

Once more proving that tax cuts for industry, business and those individuals wealthy enough to incorporate their landholdings/investments, have what is essentially a neutral outcome for rest of the population.

Company tax cuts will hardly stir the water beneath those metaphorical boats belonging to ordinary workers.

Therefore this classic illustrative meme still stands under the Turnbull Coalition Government:

Image from Perry Street Palace

Something to remember when it comes time to vote in the next federal election.

* A company tax rate very few companies actually pay. A tax rate that an estimated 36% of more than 2,000 of the biggest corporations doing business in Australia ignore entirely given they unilaterally decided that under current taxation law and for accounting purposes they should pay no tax at all.

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman examining payment terms and conditions for subcontractors working on government projects

Medianet Release 16 Oct 2017 12:00 PM AEST - Call for subcontractors to be paid promptly The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman is examining payment terms and conditions for subcontractors working on government projects. Ombudsman Kate Carnell says small business "subbies" are vulnerable to delayed payments, which can have an adverse impact on their livelihoods and the broader economy. "Most government departments pay their invoices within 30 days, but when a prime contractor is appointed to manage a project there are regularly delayed payments further down the chain," Ms Carnell said. "Government agencies and prime contractors should ensure that payment terms and conditions throughout the supply chain are no worse than those in the head contract. "It's not good enough to leave responsibility with a head contractor and overlook small businesses who do much of the work." Ms Carnell said cashflow was vital to small business success. "Cashflow is king," she said. "A lack of cashflow is the leading cause of business insolvency and this underscores the importance of prompt payments." Ms Carnell has written to seven government departments seeking information about their procurement and payment policies. It follows her inquiry into payment times, which recommended the government pay invoices within 15 days. The inquiry recommended: The Australian Government require its head contractors to adopt the payment times and practices of the procurement policy through the supply chain; The Australian Government extend its payment policies to all agencies and entities; The Australian Government publish its payment times and policies, and for all its agencies and entities, with performance against best practice benchmarks; The Australian Government procure from businesses which have supply-chain payment times and practices equal to or better than its practices. The inquiry also recommended that all levels of government adopt the same prompt-payment policies. Ends Distributed by AAP Medianet

News Corp joins Turnbull Government in bashing welfare recipients yet again

A report released by the Federal Government's Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW] on 19 October 2017 states that welfare spending in 2016 reached 9.5 per cent of Australia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) having been increasing on average by 0.09 per cent or est. $4 billion annually over the last ten financial years.

Some of this increase is inevitably due to population growth over the same period - between 2006 and 2016 the national population grew by 3.18 million people to reach a population total of 24.20 million.

However, the media suitably primed began to discuss welfare costs principally in terms of cash transfers to Centrelink clients.

But does such discussion take in the whole picture of welfare costs in this country? 

According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) there are a large number of concessions, offsets and rebates available to working and retired individuals, active businesses, family trusts and superannuation funds.

These can reduce the annual tax payable by an individual, business, trust or fund – sometimes as low as zero dollars.

Along with universal education and health services, Centrelink and Veterans’ Affairs pensions, benefits, and concessions; these ATO concessions, offsets and rebates are a form of government welfare.

So when the Murdoch media trumpet statistics like “Last year, more than 733,000 people received unemployment benefits, costing $10 billion” with est. 68 per cent of recipients moving off this payment within a year - remember that Australian Government tariff, budgetary assistance and tax concessions to primary, mining, manufacturing and services industries totalled $15.1 billion in 2015-16 and, based on past performance, an estimated 33 per cent of all businesses would probably have paid zero tax in that year.

Put simply, Australian Government welfare directed at industry cost taxpayers est. $41.3 million per day in 2015-16.

And when these same News Corp megaphones go on to state that “more than 100,000 jobseekers who were on the dole for at least five years had cost taxpayers $15 billion over the past decade” – readers might like to recall that the Australian Government spent in the vicinity of est. $96 billion on industry assistance in the six years commencing 2010-11 and ending 2015-16.

[Australian Government, Productivity Commission Annual Report Series, Trade & Assistance Review 2015-16]

If a similar level of government assistance were to continue for another four financial years then government welfare received by industry would reach est. $156 billion over ten years.

That's over ten times the quoted amount in welfare payments outlaid on the long term unemployed in a decade.

However, when the likes of Liberal Minister for Human Services Alan Tudge, Liberal Minister for Social Services Christian Porter, Liberal Senator Eric Abetz or One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson talk about the cost of government welfare programs they rather strangely neglect to look at the full range of federal government financial assistance across all sectors of the economy – preferring instead to target vulnerable groups of people with little ability to fight back against their distorted, punitive and highly politicised world views.

SENSIS: small business support for Federal Government lowest under Turnbull at -2 points

Medianet Release
28 Apr 2017 5:00 AM AEST - Business support for Federal Government now negative; lowest under Turnbull Business support for Federal Government now negative; lowest under Turnbull 28 April 2017: Support for the Federal Government among small and medium businesses (SMBs) has fallen into negative territory and to the lowest level since Malcolm Turnbull took over as Prime Minister, according to the latest Sensis Business Index (SBI) survey. The net balance fell four points this quarter (+2 to -2). This score is calculated by comparing the number of SMBs that feel supported by the Federal Government's policies (14%) to the number that do not feel supported (16%). Sensis Chief Executive Officer, John Allan said: "After Malcolm Turnbull took over as Prime Minister in 2015 we saw confidence in the Government rise, with businesses telling us they were optimistic about the change." "Since then the Government's approval rating has fallen nine points and is 20 points lower than the highest score we saw under Tony Abbott, following the pro-business Federal budget of 2015. To find a lower score we need to go back to the March 2015 survey, which was taken after Tony Abbott had survived a leadership spill. "While perceptions of the economy remain strong, less than one in seven businesses have faith in the Government's policies, with the biggest concerns being excessive bureaucracy and red tape, as well as there being too much of a focus on the interests of big business," he said. The Index, which reflects the views of 1,000 small and medium businesses from across Australia, also revealed that despite a tough quarter for the Government the long term projections for the economy have improved to their best level in 2 ½ years. "Perceptions of the current state of the economy fell slightly, but when we look further ahead businesses are feeling the most optimistic they have been since the carbon tax was repealed in 2014," said Mr Allan. The net balance score for current perceptions of the economy now sits at +2, while the expectation for the economy in a year's time have risen to +10. "When we look at the key indicators, sales, employment, wages and prices are all positive, while profitability has also improved, despite still recording a negative score. When you mix these results with the fact that business confidence remains at one of the best levels we've seen in the past seven years, it's not surprising to see the long term economic sentiment improve," said Mr Allan. "Businesses are expecting a solid increase in prices this quarter, which may give inflation a push, helping the Reserve Bank to justify a rate hike at a time when everyone is keenly watching their every move." In terms of business confidence there was a two point fall nationally, with the score now sitting on +44, which is the second best result since March 2010. Across the states and territories only ACT, Tasmanian, Queensland and NT businesses became more confident, while WA businesses maintained their score, and the other state and territories went backwards. "The results were fairly flat this quarter, although the ACT saw an 18 point spike and now sits in top spot – driven by strong sales results – in the first full survey taken since the ACT election," said Mr Allan. "In a sign of what was to come, the WA Government's score fell as it headed towards the election loss, with SMBs reporting concerns the Government was too focussed on the interests of big business." At an industry level there were mixed results in terms of business confidence, with seven out of 10 industries going backwards this quarter. The three sectors that improved were Health and Community Services; Building and Construction; and Retail Trade. "We saw big declines in confidence in the manufacturing and hospitality sectors this quarter driven by poor sales results, with manufacturing really struggling compared to the other industries. Fortunately, expectations are for an improvement in sales this quarter," said Mr Allan. Comparing metro and regional results, there was little change this quarter, with metropolitan businesses again more confident, now by a slightly reduced margin of seven points (+47 vs +40). "Overall more businesses in the capital cities are feeling confident and it comes down to their perceptions of the economy. They believe the economy is travelling well, whereas more regional business owners feel pessimistic," said Mr Allan. -ENDS-The full report and video summarising the report are available at www.sensis.com.au/SBI Video grabs featuring Sensis CEO John Allan analysing the ACT results available for download here: https://sensis.digitalpigeon.com/msg/1Wv_ACWcEeenOAbiYUDn_w/WfRJlMqk47dGegIW8suYSw Images and infographics available for download here: https://sensis.digitalpigeon.com/msg/rlpf0CY1EeebnAYtQsGbAw/WfRJlMqk47dGegIW8suYSw Distributed by AAP Medianet JN#:877823
Contact Us	© Australian Associated Press, 2017

The perception of Coalition corruption and rorting continues to grow.......

The longer this generation of Liberal and Nationals politicians hold sway at either state or federal level the more apparent it becomes that they have little to no understanding of business ethics or civic responsibility, nor any regard for the damage that even a perception of a conflict of interest can do to the level of public trust in political institutions.

Here is yet another example……

ABC News, 22 September 2016:

John Cotter Jnr.

A company run by prominent Queensland Liberal National Party members was part of a consortium awarded $3 million under a federal infrastructure program, the ABC can reveal.

The money is for a feasibility study for the proposed Urannah Dam in north Queensland.

The $3 million was secured by a consortium that was made up of the community group, Bowen Collinsville Enterprise Inc, and the Brisbane-based venture capital group, Initiative Capital.

Initiative Capital is owned by its chief executive John Cotter Jr and its executive director Gerard Paynter, who say the bid was made through an independent and transparent assessment process, with all funds to be managed by the state.

But the Queensland Government has told the ABC successful funding bids were selected by the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and that the Urannah Dam was not even listed as a state priority.

The $3 million for the Urannah Dam study came from National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. The fund called for applications late last year, with a panel of technical experts assessing the bids.

But the fund guidelines state "the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources [Barnaby Joyce] will be the final decision-maker".

John Cotter Jr is a member of the powerful Queensland LNP state executive and a regional party chair.

LNP sources said he was heavily involved in fundraising at all levels of the party.

When asked by the ABC about fundraising and his roles with the LNP, Mr Cotter said he was not allowed to comment.

"I can only confirm I am [an LNP] member," he said.

But a spokesman for the Queensland LNP confirmed Mr Cotter was on the state executive.

His partner in Initiative Capital, Gerard Paynter, is the Queensland managing director of LNP-aligned lobbying firm Barton Deakin.

Its website describes him as "an experienced Liberal National Party figure having been a Queensland and Federal Young Liberal president and a member of the Queensland state executive for five years".

It says he also has extensive experience in managing LNP state and federal campaigns, including holding a "central campaign role within the LNP for the 2013 federal election".

Mr Paynter told the ABC he did not hold any executive positions within the LNP.

He did not respond to follow up questions……..

The Australian, 27 July 2013:

MEMBERS of Queensland's GasFields Commission and their families enjoy lucrative financial interests in the state's controversial coal-seam gas industry that endanger the statutory body's independence, landholders and activists claim.

The commission, an election commitment by Campbell Newman's Liberal National Party, purports to promote sustainable co-existence between CSG miners and farmers - but critics say it is captive to industry……

Mr Clapham said landholders were concerned about the commissioners' links to gas companies. "To many people it appears the commission is there to facilitate the industry, not to even up the power imbalances. It's there to grease the wheels of the industry," he said.

The son of commission chairman John Cotter is the founder and major shareholder of a Brisbane-based consultancy that has close links to the British-owned Queensland Gas Company, one of four firms developing the state's $65 billion CSG industry.

John Cotter Jr's Flinders Group is involved in the $100 million construction of a jetty at Curtis Island at Gladstone, from where exports of liquid natural gas will begin next year. The Flinders Group has also advised resource firms, including QGC, on accessing land in more than 10 major projects, involving agreements with 1000 landholders.

Mr Cotter Jr said he no longer dealt directly with landowners because of his father's commissioner role and the group had created "Chinese walls" to avoid potential conflicts.

Activist Drew Hutton said the Flinders Group "scopes areas where coal-seam gas companies might need to target properties for gas wells and other infrastructure".

This was in direct conflict with Mr Cotter Sr's role in assisting farmers in dealing with mining companies, he said. "It's another case of where the Queensland government has structured things so landholders are disadvantaged against the might of the coal-seam gas companies."

Mr Cotter Sr, a grazier at Goomeri northwest of Brisbane, said he had no role in his son's business…..

Following closely on the heels of John Cotter Jnr's latest issue came this report in The Age on 26 September 2016:

A Turnbull government MP is facing questions over a series of taxpayer funded travel claims, including more than $2000 for flights to his own wedding in Melbourne.

Western Australian Liberal MP Steve Irons charged taxpayers travel costs of $1346 for a flight on October 18, 2011, three days before he was married at Melbourne's Crown Casino.

The West Australian reported on Monday that following the October 21 ceremony, Mr Irons charged taxpayers $911 for a return flight to Perth on October 25.

The Swan MP said the money had been repaid to the Department of Finance after "a self-audit" of travel expenses in his office.

Mr Irons' wife Cheryle was a Melbourne-based real estate agent at the time of the couple's wedding.

The revelations come days after it was reported that he had also used taxpayer funds to pay for flights to a Gold Coast golf tournament in December 2015.

Mr Irons said he studied golf tourism opportunities at the first stage of the International Team Challenge, after being invited to attend by the Australian PGA.

As chair of the parliamentary friends of sport group, Mr Irons said the trip had not broken any rules on taxpayer funded travel, despite it being claimed as "electorate business".

The December trip included a $258 bill to taxpayers for three nights' travel allowance in Coolangatta and $1875 for a flight from Brisbane to Perth.

A further flight cost is expected to be reported in future releases from the Department of Finance.

Mr Iron's office did not respond to requests for comment…..

Statistics that Team Turnbull hope voters won't notice

The Guardian, 4 June 2016:

Australian Bureau of Statistics data released over the past few days shed a stark light on private sector business investment and company profit trends over the past few years. It shows that rather than being anti-business, investment and profits boomed under Labor, and rather than being pro-business, they have collapsed under the Coalition.

Here are the facts.

In the two and a half years since the 2013 election, company profits have fallen 11% to their lowest level since 2010. This has occurred with the global economy registering decent growth and interest rates at record lows. In the six years of Labor government to 2013, company profits rose 28% despite the global financial crisis which plunged the world economy into a deep recession.

On business investment, the credentials of both sides of politics are even more extreme. Since the September 2013 election, private sector capital expenditure has fallen a thumping 26% and the outlook for the next year is for a further fall of between 5% and 10%. The fall in business investment is set to be more severe than during the early 1990s recession.

Under the previous Labor government, business investment rose a robust 67% to reach a record high proportion of GDP. It seems the policy settings which included the carbon price and mining tax did nothing to discourage the private sector from going out and investing.

Labor being anti-business with its emphasis on better health and education, and the Coalition being pro-business with its planned tax cuts.

Don’t believe the journalist? Still convinced only conservatives understand business? Then check his facts at 5676.0 - Business Indicators, Australia, Mar 2016 – data from 1994 to 2016.

Are we in the first years of a global tax war?

Tax evasion and avoidance has been called a trillion dollar evil and right now in Australia the corporate fight-back has begun as big business and wealthy individuals decide that they want to hold on to every single dollar of their share of this trillion.

Expect a national public relations campaign explaining why business and industry pay their fair share of Australian taxes if the Tax Advisory Panel (and the industry sectors it represents) gets its wish.

I suspect that they are all watching what is going down in Europe with a great deal of interest……..

Financial Times UK, 27 January 2016:

The uproar about Google paying £130m in back taxes and raising the amount it pays in the UK by just £10m a year is merely a little local difficulty compared with what comes next.

Apple could soon be instructed to pay billions, triggering a showdown between Europe and the US and a potential breakdown of the international tax system. This sounds apocalyptic but it is a decent bet.

If you doubt it, consider the following. From irate taxpayers and infuriated politicians to defiant bosses of multinationals, many are at the ends of their tethers about corporate tax.

Countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have spent two years trying to fix the system; one of the first results, Google’s UK deal, has gone down terribly.

Apple disclosed on Tuesday that its minimally taxed pot of overseas cash has grown to $200bn.

Tim Cook, chief executive, flew to Brussels last week to protest at the likelihood of being told by the European Commission to pay a chunk to Ireland, where it has operated since 1980.

American politicians are angry at what some call “a direct threat to the interests of the US”.

The question on which the future of global tax harmony rests is not whether Google should pay more in the UK and less in Ireland.

It is whether US multinationals pay much tax anywhere on overseas earnings, and whether they ever will.

For now, billions in profits are booked in Bermuda and offshore entities, annoying everyone.

The centre is not holding for Alphabet, Google’s parent group, as France and Italy reinterpret their laws to make it pay more tax before local profits escape to Ireland and then, via the Netherlands, to Bermuda.

It will surely fracture over EU cases against Apple and Amazon since the US lives in hope that one day, over the rainbow, their cash will come home to be taxed.

We face a historic moment.

The tax system formed under the League of Nations in 1928 relies on the idea that companies should be taxed largely where profits are created, not where they sell their products and services.

It could soon fall apart and what happens then is anyone’s guess, although it will not be pretty and will probably resemble a global tax war.

Read the rest of the article here.

The Guardian, 28 January 2016 

The UK government’s controversial tax deal with Google could fall foul of European competition rules and will be investigated if a complaint is made, the European commissioner responsible for the rules has warned.

Margrethe Vestager said that so-called sweetheart deals between member states and companies were unfair and could amount to illegal state aid.

The SNP has already written to Vestager calling for a European commission investigation into Google’s tax settlement

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about the government’s £130m deal with Google on back taxes, she said: “That’s way too early to say because I don’t know the details of the deal.”

Asked whether she would investigate, Vestager said: “If we find that there is something to be concerned about, if someone writes to us and says: ‘Maybe this is not as it should be’, then we will take a look.”

She added: “We should be in a union where everyone has a fair chance of making it. If you are in a small innovative company … the bigger ones shouldn’t close the market and disable your opportunity to find customers.” 

Vestager’s remarks will add to the mounting pressure on David Cameron, whose government has been accused of being too close to Google……

The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 October 2015:

We are entering a new world of tax revenue wars, and no one can say who will emerge as the victor. 

All we know is that there will be tension over the next five years as governments seek to implement the global plan to end to tax havens from Luxembourg to Bermuda.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development plan - known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) – will put an end to non-taxation.

From the OECD's perspective, in a world where there's no longer zero tax, everyone's a winner. In practice, there's likely to be winners and losers.

Tensions will arise because there's still no clear guidance on where or how much profit should be taxed.

BEPS action item 1 (there's 15 parts) said it was impossible to ring-fence the digital economy. It stopped short of recommending whether profits should be taxed where the customer is and value is created (source), or the country where the product originated (residence)…..

The OECD estimates that there could be up to $US240 billion ($325 billion) in revenue being lost due tax avoidance. But that's likely to be tied in with bigger problems such as money laundering.

How many companies with annual turnovers in excess of $250 million pay tax in Australia?

[Australian Tax Office, Corporate tax transparency report for the 2013-14 income year]

Has the Australian small business community stopped listening to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's doom and gloom?

 

It would seem that by the first quarter of 2013 Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s scare tactics may have ceased cutting though when it comes to how people starting new businesses see the economy and their chance of success as they are still registering in high numbers.

 

These are the active Australian Business Numbers in 2013, of which 3,557,412 are individual/sole traders, 1,354,105 are private companies and 513,116 are family partnerships:

 

 

Here are the number of new business numbers registered so far this year, of which 74,574 are individual/sole traders, 24,596 are private companies and 3,578 are family partnerships:  

 

 

This is the number which also registered for the Goods & Services Tax for the first time:

 

Click on tables to enlarge

It's an election year and some Coalition candidates will probably mention productivity growth and labour costs

 

Whenever a Coalition candidate mentions ‘low’ annual productivity growth or ‘rising’ labour costs, in the lead up to the 2013 federal general election, remember these graphs from Greg Jericho .

Australia is doing very nicely thank you.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-16/jericho-big-1/4466256

 

Departing Yamba business cries "Blue Murder"

The main topic of discussion around Yamba's central business district at present is the signage tenants of a commercial property in the town's main street placed in the front window of their business.

The business, which is a healthy food outlet with an A-1 reputation for providing five-star products, will close at the end of the month.

Locals and visitors who saw the signs were gob-smacked. They were astonished the business felt it had to resort to such a tactic to demonstrate the extent to which factors beyond its control were responsible for the business closing.

Apparently, the signs in the shop's window didn't muck around. Allegations were made about greedy landlords (the $ amount of rent for the premises was shown), high costs of utilities and costs imposed on the business by government.

Also, it's said the signs named names, businesses and levels of government which are allegedly involved in the high rents and charges imposed on the business.

The bottom line: another well-supported business departs the local scene due to the burdens of overheads imposed upon it.

Footnote: the building housing the healthy food outlet that's about to close recently lost another tenant from the premises next door; that business specialised in what Yamba's renowned for, its fresh seafood.