JOHN STANLEY:
Bruce Billson, good morning.
BRUCE BILLSON:
Good morning to you John and your listeners.
STANLEY:
We’ve heard a lot of talk; we’ve heard a lot of discussion about trying to break the power of the big supermarkets, to investigate particularly their role with their suppliers, why are we going to get more done this time than we have in the past?
BILLSON:
Well there are a couple of things going on. I am sure your listeners are aware that the ACCC is conducting very extensive examination where they are getting documentation from the supermarkets and their supply chain to see whether there has been any unreasonable use of the enormous market power that supermarkets have. If you and I or your listeners were suppliers to one of the big two and our business was pretty much dependent on that, you would imagine that we are not in a particularly good bargaining position. What we have seen is furious competition at the till, which has been good news for shoppers with many items on their grocery shop going down. But in many cases we have seen that price pressure push back down through the supply chain. It mean those smaller businesses are not really given a lot of choice about discounting requirements and how to keep their trade with very big businesses, that have enormous market power. We want to make sure that that laws can ensure that those with such enormous market power use that market power wisely and efficient businesses, big or small have a chance to flourish in this country.
STANLEY:
The key point in what you said was though, the consumer goes in their liking those lower prices, so you have got to tread lightly don’t you because you don’t want suddenly people paying more.
BILLSON:
That is correct. The key thing is we are about supporting enterprise in Australia. We need to get behind small and big businesses that are efficient and offer economic opportunities and employment prospects and add so much to the prosperity of our country. This isn’t about protecting inefficient businesses this is about saying to economy and big businesses and small business, if you are efficient and innovating, if you’re meeting your customers needs, if you are investing in future improvements in what you do, then there should be space in Australia for you to prosper and grow. What we are hearing though is in some cases many smaller businesses feel they have got no where to turn., almost like a modern day serfdom where they are sort of told by the master and overlord here are the terms on which we will engage, here is what we are looking for from you and by the way if don’t necessarily like what you are doing we are off. In many cases that leaves smaller businesses that have been successful, in some cases for decades, wondering where to turn and wondering where the fair go is for them. So couple of things are happening. Looking at the current toolkit, which the ACCC has. They’re conducting extensive investigations and we should know more about the outcomes there. There have been allegations of a misuse of market power or some unconscionable conduct. But looking forward and what we were talking about during the week is this ‘root and branch’ review of those very laws to make sure our toolkit can cope with the pressures in our economy, can ensure that they are supporting innovation, employment and also longer term customer interest where you don’t just want a nice discounted price today and then find all the competition wipe out and all the prices get jacked up tomorrow and that the balance we need to find.
STANLEY:
So sometime next year you think we might start to see something?
BILLSON:
Well there is already work underway. Those current investigations the ACCC is undertaking, we should see some guidance from them later this year, early next year about whether there is any mischief relating to the current law. Prior to that we will put out our terms of reference on the ‘root and branch’ review. We will invite peoples reaction to those terms of reference and we will get cracking on that important, once in a generation, piece of work that needs to be done to take account of the changes happening in our economy.
STANLEY:
Now there is a story, talk about changes in the economy, there was a story this week about public holiday trading in NSW. In Sydney for instance you can trade on Boxing Day in the CBD but you go to Parramatta and they have to close and someone like Peter Wynn for instance was highlighted in the Telegraph, her can’t open on Boxing Day when he would like to. Can you change that?
BILLSON:
Well one of the things that we will be looking at in the ‘root and branch’ review is whether there are impediments to people participating in the economy that need not be there. Now a number of those John will relate to the Commonwealth’s area of law. You know access to key infsurcture so sorts of things. Or where you have got big business using that mite and that muscle to cut out people competing on merit. That’s something within the Commonwealth’s domain. Some of the areas, particularly shop trading hours are very much in the state area responsibility, I expect that our review will shine a light on some of those areas but we will need to work collaboratively with our State and Territory colleagues in some of the areas like the one you mentioned.
STANLEY:
You are talking about getting them all together to have some kind of national approach to all this which would be a good thing, it is ultimately up to the NSW Government to make that decision and they’re hopefully going to have some sort of sensible approach to that leading up to this Boxing Day. But coming back to you may I ask you but red-tape. Since you have been the job, you have been in there now for some weeks. You would have had a chance to ask some of the bureaucrats about some of the red-tape nightmares that get thrown at you by small business people, are there any examples of cutting of red-tape that you can point to?
BILLSON:
(Laughs) we have already started. There is legislation being prepared to make sure that small employers that have one of their team taking maternity leave and receiving the Government’s maternity payments, under the current arrangement the previous Government introduced a small business, not only coping with the enormous period of adjustment when one of the team goes off on maternity leave, they are then expected to be the pay-clerk handling all the paper work and all of that transaction details. There is no good reason for that. There is no justification for that; it is just another pain in the neck bureaucratic requirement that serves no good purpose. So we are proceeding to develop some legislation there that would see that only happen if that’s what an employer and employee want to do. So we are making progress there. In the area of business names, we have spoken before about the many home based businesses that are out there. Under the previous system the government put in place having to disclose their private place of address to get a business name and what a breach that was of their privacy and placed them at unnecessary risk. We have got that changed now so you can have a post office box, that streamlined that as well. We have had some really good discussion with the tax office about the way in which they use their enormous powers. Let’s think of them in terms of a good police service. 99.9 per cent are good law abiding people and police operate a policing service that is there and is collaborative, its respectful and its engaging. For that very small fraction that are doing the wrong thing those perpetrator’s get the full force of the law. We have been working well with the Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordon, he is good thoughtful person who’s leading that very large organization to make sure that the tax office works effectively and realistically with particularly smaller businesses in the way in which they interact and there are opportunities to streamline that as well. So we are getting on with it. We have got a billion dollar red-tape removal task that we want to see achieved for each year. That is being assigned across the Commonwealth so that all of the Commonwealth departments now have a deregulation unit within them. For senior public servants their performance bonuses will be linked to deliver on this important undertaking.
STANLEY:
You know there are people listening to this, and I could name of couple of them, who would say hang on there is a red-tape reduction thing setup within the department, that’s not another layer of bureaucracy is it?
BILLSON:
No it’s actually within each department with the people that know why they have got certain requirements in place. Frankly when you look at some of the paperwork, it just doesn’t need to be there. It is almost like an ‘ah hah’ where a well intended public servant thought that now while I have got your attention as small business person I am going to ask you all these other things as well. Get you to do all this other stuff now that I have got your attention, not realizing it is just more of the little time a small business person is going to burn up on the weekend, when they could be investing in the success of their business or heaven for bid having a rest like the rest of us because small business people are people too.
STANLEY:
Well let’s talk in a year because realistically it takes a long time unpick all of this. There are a lot of people hoping you can be able to achieve all of this. Good luck with it.
BILLSON:
Thank you. Can I just add we need to do this, if you think of the over horizon economy, when we are looking for improved living standards and employment possibilities, its all about small business. We have seen a decline in small business employment, we have got to arrest that and turn it around and create a more entrepreneurial eco system for people to have a go and a chance to succeed.
STANLEY:
Bruce Billson, good to talk to you as always, thank you.
BILLSON:
Thanks John.