The new Turnbull government faces an immediate test of its small business credentials with the Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms Bill 2015 before parliament and needing a decision.
Big business interests oppose the bill. On Monday morning, the day of the spill against Tony Abbott, the bill was amended in the Senate, enlarging its reach to more small business contracts than the government’s plan. More...
From the Desk of the Executive Director
Ken Phillips is co-founder and Executive Director of Independent Contractors of Australia. He is a published authority on independent contractor issues and directs research on related commercial and trade practices issues. Through his numerous articles in newspapers and think-tank and academic journals, Ken is known for approaching issues from outside normal perspectives and is frequently sought out for media comment.
Small business looks to Turnbull for confidence on contracts
The Senate's sensible small business stance
This is a tale that dispels the myth about a dysfunctional
Senate. If anything, my recent experience with the current crop of
senators indicates a grouping of real professionals performing
diligently in a pressure-cooker environment.
Monday, of course, was an extraordinary day with the successful party
room spill against Tony Abbott. What’s not well known is what preceded
the spill on Monday morning in the Senate.
More...
Abbott’s competition review will weigh on big business
There’s concern from large business interests that in the competition review being organised by the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, big business is going to be unfairly targeted, perhaps even clobbered.
Reflecting this view, Stephen Bartholomeusz last week expressed relief that the review panel is a “surprisingly balanced one" (Muscle and might: A panel to protect Australian competition, March 27). Further, that “the review won’t be loaded against competitors purely because of their size.” More...
Political card tricks
Small business people lose out under Abbott government. Incompetent big business wins
Last week the Abbott government did two things that signal it as a big business, big union, big government operation. This is probably surprising to most people who thought the Coalition was a union hater. But not so! More...
Caution will reign in the Abbott government
Now that it’s clear that Labor and the Greens have lost control of the Senate as well as government, the nature of Tony Abbott as national leader comes into sharper focus. As prime minister, Abbott has the numbers (with reasoned Senate negotiation) to effectively govern. More...
Small firms need a fair go
Of the seven million Australians who work in small businesses few probably understand what Tony Abbott proposes for them if he becomes prime minister. But Abbott's small business policy is a game-changer.
Abbott has committed to introducing contract fairness for small businesses in their dealing with big business and big government. This significant initiative demonstrates a wide difference between the two parties. More...
Actions hurting small business
The Rudd Labor government is spending big on media advertising declaring that it's small-business-friendly. But the facts show a government intentionally damaging small-business people.
In the past two years, for example, the number of micro-businesses (one-person businesses) has collapsed by 130,000. This is a direct result of a package of anti-small business, anti-self-employed measures imposed by the Labor government. More...
How Abbott outflanked Labor on IR
The Coalition's industrial relations policy is a real disappointment to many.
It's disappointing for big business lobbyists who wanted a commitment to individual employment agreements. They wanted a dropping of good faith bargaining provisions and the reintroduction of employer friendly Greenfield agreements amongst many items. Most things on their wish list are technical legal issues relating to how union negotiations are to be handled. More...
Hope glimmers in Abbotts small business spotlight
Slowly the Abbott opposition is revealing just how dramatically different business regulation and policy is likely to be under an alternative government. In essence they are preparing to put small business at the centre of key business policy in a way never before seen. And particularly, it might seem, with competition laws. More...
Paralysed in a tax office trap
The Australian union movement has been quite open about its campaign to stamp out independent contractors wherever it can. Running parallel to this, it's instructive to see that the Australian Taxation Office has shifted to a decidedly anti-independent contractor stance over the last few years. The outcome (intentional or not) is to aid the unions' objectives. More...
Recent Posts
- Changes give taxman licence to monster small business
- When the Taxman proves to be a monster
- Some revolutionary thoughts for the New Year
- At last a fair deal for hard-working subbies
- Gig economy and unfair contract laws suit self-employed
- Why the new unfair contract laws are good news for soloists
- Truckies’ Act a dog that may bark again
- Why is Wesfarmers so opposed to the ‘effects test’?
- Small business is losing confidence in the ATO
- Big firms aren’t budging on business behaviour
![]() Be Protected! |
Tags
- 457 visas (1)
- Abbott government (17)
- ACCC (4)
- advertising (2)
- ALP policy (15)
- Asian economies (3)
- ASIC (3)
- ATO (11)
- Australian politics (70)
- Australian Senate (4)
- Banking sector (1)
- big business (23)
- branding (1)
- Budget 2015 (1)
- business names (2)
- business-union ties (21)
- Canada (1)
- Canadian provinces (1)
- Car industry (5)
- CFMEU (9)
- China (2)
- Coalition policy (26)
- Collusion (17)
- communication (2)
- competition policy (6)
- computer/IT sector (6)
- construction (25)
- construction codes (6)
- contractor status (11)
- corporate welfare (6)
- corruption (4)
- defending our rights (41)
- disclosure requirements (2)
- dispute resolution (4)
- disruption (3)
- effects test (2)
- Election 2013 (10)
- Election 2019 (1)
- entrepreneurship (24)
- Europe (2)
- fair contracts (19)
- Fair Work Commission (1)
- finance (2)
- financial advisers (1)
- foreign workers (1)
- franchising (1)
- freelancing (9)
- Gig economy (3)
- Global economies (4)
- global news (11)
- govt-business ties (5)
- govt-union ties (8)
- Heydon Report (4)
- ICAC (1)
- illegal logging laws (2)
- independence (11)
- industrial relations (45)
- infrastructure (4)
- innovation (14)
- Inspector-General Taxation (1)
- Japan (1)
- job creation (13)
- Job security (12)
- Kenya (1)
- liberty (1)
- management capacity (5)
- misclassification laws (1)
- Morrison Government (1)
- MUA (2)
- National Broadband Network (3)
- national debt (1)
- New South Wales (1)
- OHS harmonisation (6)
- owner-drivers (5)
- penalty rates (2)
- productivity (10)
- Productivity Commission (1)
- profiles (4)
- red tape (5)
- research (5)
- Resources (1)
- responsibility (4)
- self-employment (34)
- shopping centres (2)
- Shorten Opposition (1)
- small business (54)
- small business commisioners (2)
- small business tax tribunal (1)
- stupid legislation (3)
- superannuation (3)
- taxation (9)
- technology (8)
- tradesmen (1)
- transparency (7)
- truckies (3)
- Turnbull Government (13)
- TWU (6)
- Uber (4)
- unemployment (1)
- union power (46)
- union violence (4)
- United Kingdom (2)
- United States (1)
- US politics (1)
- Victoria (9)
- Victorian election (2)
- Western Australia (1)
- white australia (1)
- work flexibility (8)
- work safety (7)
- work-life balance (7)
- workplace interaction (1)
Small Cost, Big Benefits