Nadia Mitsopoulos:
And if you run a small business, I want to know what you need right now to help with the knock‑on effects of those rising fuel prices. Give me a call and tell me what would help you the most: 1300-22-1025. Because this morning, the Treasurer has fronted the cameras to assure you he and his colleagues have your back.
Now, Anne Aly was at that media conference. She’s the federal Small Business Minister, and with me now. Good morning.
Anne Aly:
Good morning, Nadia.
Mitsopoulos:
You’ve looked at 3 areas this morning. First, tax. Are you giving some people some reprieve here?
Aly:
Yeah. So, the whole suite of measures that we introduced today are really about being flexible and ensuring that businesses can keep their doors open. Recognising that, you know, it’s hard to run a small business. I’ve run one. It’s really hard. It’s even harder in times of global uncertainty. And I know that small businesses are looking closely at the war in the Middle East and wondering what that’s going to mean for them in terms of whether it’s their supply chains, the goods and services that they need to be able to do business, or the goods and services that they provide as part of their business as well.
So, under the tax flexibility kind of suite of measures in this package, it’s a temporary relief for businesses who are unable to meet their tax obligations, generous, more generous payment plans, a remission of interest and penalties, and support in varying their PAYG instalments if they’ve had a downturn in their taxable income. There’s also limited compliance actions, which means that there will be pause on some debt collection as well.
Mitsopoulos:
Okay, so in plain terms, Minister, does that mean that if businesses cannot pay their tax on time, they will not have to?
Aly:
It means that the tax, the ATO can make a decision if that, they can’t do that because of the fuel supply issues that they can have, you know, not do those compliance, compliance actions. They can give them a generous payment plan, and they can give them temporary relief if they’re unable to meet their tax obligations. So, yes, in a temporary sense, yes.
Mitsopoulos:
Sure. Does that mean the ATO was already starting to get calls from people saying, ‘I’m struggling here, I don’t think I’m going to be able to meet my obligations’?
Aly:
Well, I’ve been meeting with small businesses throughout, and I really do want to give a shout‑out and a huge thank you to the small businesses who have engaged with me, as well as the peak bodies, people like COSBOA and other peak bodies who have approached me on this. There is absolutely no doubt that fuel supply issues are hitting small businesses. And, yeah, they’re worried. They’re concerned. As I said, they’re watching what’s going on, and they’re wondering what that’s going to mean for me. If they’re a business that operates hospitality and tourism, you’ve got the Easter period coming up. Are they going to get the customers that they need to keep their cash flow going? So, they’re concerned, and we’ve recognised that concern. So, these are some things that will give them that relief. Whether or not businesses have spoken to the ATO about this, I know that they’ve raised it with me and we’re acting on it.
Mitsopoulos:
And to be clear, though, you don’t want people taking advantage of this. It’s not a free rein to ignore the ATO, is it?
Aly:
Well, no, you know, people’s tax obligations are their tax obligations. But we recognise that at this time, the small businesses are always, and they’re perhaps even, I would say this, more acutely impacted by economic shocks. They’re less likely to be able to absorb some of those big economic shocks, like what we’re seeing now with fuel prices. So, this is, you know, this is our government thinking about small business, which they always ask me to do. They always say, ‘Anne, we just want you to think about small business whenever you do things’. Thinking about small business, thinking about how this impacts differentially and specifically on small business, and then coming up with some targeted measures specifically to help them.
Mitsopoulos:
Anne, Dr Anne Aly is my guest this morning, federal Small Business Minister, also a member of parliament here for the seat of Cowan in WA. And if you are trying to, if you need something, I guess what it is, if you run a small business that you will be, that would help you the most – give me a call on 1300-22-1025.
Access to credit – how will that be easier?
Aly:
So, right now, there is something called the small business responsible lending obligation exemption. It’s a mouthful, isn’t it? But what this basically means in simple terms is that small businesses don’t have to comply with, and they’re not slugged with all that additional regulatory burden and delays when they need to access loans. So, there may be a small business out there that needs a loan to get through these tough times, or they need to get credit to get through these tough times. This makes access to credit easier and faster, so they’re not overly burdened by all the regulatory compliance stuff.
Mitsopoulos:
What other support is on offer this morning?
Aly:
So, the financial sector and the banking sector has also offered support. And I don’t know if you or any of your listeners caught the press conference that was, it’s pretty early, early by Perth time, I think it was 6:30 am.
Mitsopoulos:
6:30, we were watching.
Aly:
6:30 am, I was there. And the banks have, you know, work, working proactively with their customers, temporary payment deferrals, restructuring and emergency credit, limited increases. So, there’s a whole range of things. What I would say to small businesses who are out there is get help soon. You know, if you feel like you need help, you need help, if you are struggling, if you’re even contemplating what all of this means for you, maybe not this week, maybe next week, maybe this week, maybe last week. Get out there, have a look at what’s available, because there is a suite of services that are available for you, because we want to make sure that you can keep your doors open, we want to make sure that you can keep going. And the reason for that is because we know that you back Australians, we know that you back employing Australians, we know that you back our communities, you sponsor sporting clubs, you know, you work within the communities, we know you do that. So, we need you to keep going, and we’re here to help you keep going.
Mitsopoulos:
Minister, I’ve got a lot of people texting in saying what they need is some financial help with the fuel surcharges that are being passed on. I mean, is there going to be a point where you will have to offer something like that, some actual financial relief?
Aly:
Well, we have already done so, looking at, let’s look at what we’ve done thus far, because what we do doesn’t just help your consumer. Let’s remember that small businesses are also consumers of fuel as well. And there’s 2 aspects to it. There’s ensuring supply, which we’ve got a number of measures there. And then the measures that we introduced yesterday are primarily about, about pricing. So, halving the fuel excise and petrol and diesel for the next 3 months. So that’s going to make fuel cheaper for all Australians, including those who run a small business. Cutting the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for 3 months, that’s, you know, if you’ve got a small business and you know, you, that’s truckies and, and so forth, that’s going to help there as well. So, there are things that we’re doing on pricing. Let’s also not forget as well that we have a National Cabinet, and National Cabinet has, you know, quite explicitly said to the states that the GST kind of windfall coming from higher fuel prices needs to be put back into helping people with the cost of fuel and getting through this. So, there are a number of measures that are out there to bring down or ease the pressure of the rising cost of fuel.
Mitsopoulos:
But my question is, if this drags on, and I get, you know, I understand what you’ve already committed to, but can you rule out any other financial incentives down the track if we’re still in this position in a month’s time?
Aly:
Oh, I think we have to consider everything, and we are considering everything. You know, we’ve got a plan. It’s a 4‑stage plan. We’re now at stage 2 of that plan, and I don’t think that, you know, anything’s being discounted. All good ideas will be looked at, and I’m certainly willing to take those ideas to the Treasurer and to the Prime Minister as well.
Mitsopoulos:
It’s interesting, Minister, because you’re talking about this the day after the government decided to scrap those card surcharges on debit and credit cards, and there was a lot of small business owners who were very unhappy about that because they’re going to have to pick up the tab. What do you say to them?
Aly:
Look, I think, you know, in terms of the card surcharges, the RBA decision is actually going to make that card payment system more efficient. It was not efficient before, and it was not transparent before, and it certainly was not fairer before. And actually, when you look at the data on this, small businesses are actually expected to benefit more than big businesses. So, they’re going to actually get bigger fee reductions than large businesses. And the reason for that is because they currently pay what’s called an interchange fee, and they pay that interchange fee at the higher end of the current gaps. We’ve got to accept the fact that, you know, Australians are more and more, you know, likely to use electronic payments. More likely to get, you know, to have surcharges when they use, when they use their card as opposed to cash. I mean, I know every time I go and use my card at a small business that, that charges the surcharge, which is around 16 per cent of Australian businesses who currently surcharge. You know, I know that, yeah, it’s something you notice. It’s something you notice as a consumer. So, we back in what the RBA has done on this because it will mean that the card payment system is more efficient and more transparent.
Mitsopoulos:
Minister, before I let you go, the Prime Minister will be addressing the nation at 4 o’clock this afternoon. Are we likely to go to a level 3 in the national fuel plan, where targeted action might have to be taken, where people will be asked to minimise their fuel use, so there’s plenty for critical industries? Is that where we’re heading?
Aly:
Well, I’m not going to pre‑empt what the Prime Minister is going to say this evening, but I will say that we’ve constantly been asking people to be, you know, responsible when it comes to fuel use. I was out door-knocking a couple of weeks ago, and I’m sure some of your listeners can relate to this. I was out door-knocking a couple of weeks ago, and people were telling me that they’ve observed their neighbours coming home with 10 jerry cans full of fuel. Right. So, not, you know, that’s –that’s a bit much, guys, right? You know, but also, it’s dangerous. You cannot store fuel in your backyard shed. It’s dangerous. So, think about your families, think about your neighbours, but also think about the fact that, you know, everybody needs fuel. Pretty much everybody needs fuel. So, I think Australians, by and large, act responsibly in these times, and I know that they’ll continue to do that. Yeah.
Mitsopoulos:
All right, I’ll leave it there. I appreciate your time this morning. Anne Aly there, she’s the federal Small Business Minister.