Small Business roundtable to be held in Brisbane to discuss key issues at national level

Small Business Minister Leeanne Enoch today (Thursday) will meet with national small business commissioners and regulatory agencies at a national roundtable in Brisbane.

This afternoon's roundtable will bring together small business commissioners, and representatives of the Queensland Small Business Advisory Council, the Better Regulation Taskforce, and the Federal Regulatory Agencies Group to discuss key issues facing small business in Queensland.

Ms Enoch said it was important the state’s small businesses are heard at a national level after the previous Newman-Nicholls Government axed Queensland’s Small Business Commissioner.

“The Palaszczuk Government’s economic plan is setting the right conditions for small business growth after the slash-and-burn mentality of the Newman-Nicholls Government,” Ms Enoch said.

“Hosting this roundtable presents an important opportunity to put small businesses in the national spotlight, discuss the issues of most importance and ensure those issues are heard independently at a Federal level.”

Ms Enoch said the roundtable will allow the Palaszczuk Government to highlight its commitment to grow the sector and create jobs under its $22.7 million Advancing Small Business Queensland Strategy.

“Over the past financial year, 604 small businesses have benefited from our grants programs - with more than $3 million in funding allocated,” Ms Enoch said.

“We are also running our Go Local campaign supporting Queensland’s small business owners and operators, who make up more than 97 per cent of all Queensland businesses and employ around 44 per cent of the total private sector workforce.

“This is why it’s vital Australian Government representatives, including regulators, hear first-hand from small businesses and industry representatives on issues affecting the sector here in Queensland.”

Ms Enoch said key issues to be discussed at the roundtable include the superannuation regulatory framework, the federal R&D Tax Incentive program and improving how small businesses understand their regulatory compliance obligations.

“As promised at the last election, the Palaszczuk Government established the Red Tape Reduction Advisory Council to help identify regulatory pressure-points for the state’s 414,000 small businesses," Ms Enoch said.

“The Better Regulation Taskforce’s (formerly the Red Tape Reduction Advisory Council) first six-month progress report highlighted work was on track to implement all 14 of the previous recommendations made to reduce the regulatory burden and costs to small business operators.

“We are advocating on behalf of small businesses to the Turnbull Government on the need to streamline national regulatory processes in this space, and to make it easier for small businesses to do business.”

National Small Business Commissioners will attend a meeting in Brisbane tomorrow (Friday) to be chaired by Queensland Small Business Champion Maree Adshead.

“By hosting the National Council of Small Business Commissioners, I will be bringing together a range of business and industry representatives with federal regulators and representatives from other states for the very first time in Queensland,” Ms Adshead said.

For further information about the Queensland Small Business Advisory Council and the Queensland Small Business Champion, visit www.dtesb.qld.gov.au/small-business.

ENDS

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