PRESENTER
Yeah, morning! It’s Moffee with you. Joining us now in the studio Federal Member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker and the Minister for Small Business, Michael McCormack. G’day guys, welcome along!
McCORMACK
Morning Moffee.
PRESENTER
Now it’s been a very busy 24 hours when it comes to jobs and working but the main reason you’re here today is it’s all about local businesses. It’s all about small business.
McCORMACK
Look, it is. And the national small business roadshow comes to Coffs Harbour this morning. 8 o’clock. All people are welcome at the C-Ex Club. So really looking forward to seeing as many small businesspeople as possible. So if you’re out and about in Coffs Harbour this morning and you’re running a small business and you’ve got time – I appreciate people are very busy when they’re in small business – but if you’ve got time, come down to the club from 8 o’clock.
PRESENTER
Because it is such an important thing. I mean Luke, we often talk about it with local jobs and being able to really boost the local area. But small business is the backbone, isn’t it?
HARTSUYKER
Absolutely Moffee. I mean small business is the driver of jobs growth in our region. In regional areas we have few large employers and we depend on small business prospering and growing to employ more people.
PRESENTER
I mean, there’s plenty of jobs around the place too. At the moment we are running Coffs Coast Working and there are so many people looking for bar staff, they are looking for labourers. They are looking for even skilled jobs as well.
HARTSUYKER
Yeah – and everyone on the Coffs Coast can play their part in generating jobs, even if they’re not an employer, by shopping local. The more you shop in your local area, the more dollars you spend down on the main street, the more jobs there are for people. And that money goes round and round in our local community.
PRESENTER
You know, one thing I really noticed when I first moved here was projects, like obviously with the Highway. We have a lot of people living in the area because of those things. And they do inject so much into the area with just your supermarkets, even with things like buying shoes for the kids for school. And a lot of them are small businesses that they’re buying those from.
McCORMACK
Well look they are. And at the moment in Luke Hartsuyker’s electorate there are 12,125 small businesses but we have redefined what a small business is. So we have upped the threshold for annual turnover to $10 million, so that’s the new definition of a small business.
Now when the full suite of tax cut measures come through, that will mean that in Luke Hartsuyker’s electorate alone there will be 17,860 businesses which will be acknowledged, recognised, by the Government as a small business.
And they will be able to take advantage of the instant asset write-off programme, of the lowering of the company tax rate. So it’s good news for Cowper. It’s good news for the Coffs Coast. And it’s good news for jobs and growth, as Luke just said.
PRESENTER
In the roadshow today, what can people expect when they come along?
McCORMACK
Well they can expect a panel which is listening to their issues and concerns. And they can expect to hear from Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. We’ve also got the Australian Taxation Office and the ACCC representatives there. So we have a panel of Government agencies – of people who care about small business – who want to make sure small businesses are able to grow and we want to listen to the issues and concerns of those small businesses on the Coffs Coast.
PRESENTER
Do you often find when you do travel around that there are a lot of people in small business that still, they’re not sure about a lot of things? They do have a lot of questions on things?
McCORMACK
Oh, absolutely. And that is why we are taking this panel nationally. That is why we are taking this roadshow to remote and regional Australia, into the capital cities. But most importantly, I’m a regional MP, Luke’s a regional MP, and we understand the issues and we talk to people every day.
But it’s great that we get someone like Kate Carnell, who is the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, before a group of small businesspeople so they can tell her their first-hand accounts of what they would like the Government do, of what they would like to see the Ombudsman do. Because she understands small business. Not only is she a former Chief Minister – like a Premier – in the ACT, she ran pharmacies, she ran chemists, and so she understands small business, as does everybody on the panel.
But we want to hear from small business owners and operators, how we can help them and how we can make their life a little bit easier.
PRESENTER
So that’s the small business roadshow this morning. 8 o’clock at C-Ex Coffs. So do people just pop in?
McCORMACK
Absolutely. We would welcome anybody to come down and have their say, if they’ve got time. We appreciate that small businesses – you know – they are underpinning the economy, as Luke said. They are very busy people. If they have got an hour to spare, I think it will be worthwhile.
PRESENTER
Fantastic. Thank you so much for coming in bright and early this morning. And I was going to say hopefully the weather will be alright for your visit, but looking out the window I am not sure that will be the case!
McCORMACK
Every day is a beautiful day in small business in Coffs!
PRESENTER
[Laughs] … coming from Wagga it must be nice to see the rain.
McCORMACK
Absolutely! I used to come here on an annual holiday, but the place is just getting better and better. And Luke Hartsuyker is doing a great job and I’m really looking forward to meeting some small businesses today.
PRESENTER
Thanks Michael. Thanks Luke.
McCORMACK
Thanks Moffee.
HARTSUYKER
Thank you.