THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said family businesses have been hit hard by the COVID crisis, encouraging everyone to buy local this National Family Business Day (Friday, September 18).

Speaking in a Family Business Australia video marking the day, Ms Carnell said the family business sector needed to be supported as it emerges from this difficult period. 

“National Family Business Day is usually a day to celebrate, but 2020 is a year like no other,” Ms Carnell said.

“Times are incredibly tough and so many family businesses that were viable this time last year are now facing enormous challenges after a devastating bushfire season followed by a global pandemic.

“Family businesses in Victoria continue to struggle with ongoing heavy restrictions.

“The best way you can support family businesses is to spend locally – whether that’s at a mum-and-dad owned bricks and mortar store such as the town butcher or by shopping online via social media campaigns such as ‘Click for Vic,’ 'Buy From the Bush', 'Empty Esky', 'Spend With Them' and 'Stay with Them' – to name a few.

“Family businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and key contributors to our economy – accounting for up to 70 percent of Australian businesses and employing as much as half of the workforce.

“Their survival is critical to our broader economic recovery," Ms Carnell said.

“That’s why my office has produced a comprehensive COVID-19 Recovery Plan recommending a suite of reforms to help small and family businesses survive and thrive.

“The recommendations cover a broad range of areas including taxation, access to justice, industrial relations, government procurement and cutting red tape.”

Ms Carnell said her office was also excited to be working in partnership with Family Business Australia to produce a guide to succession planning.

“Succession planning is a key issue for family businesses and this guide will provide a step-by-step process to ensure the next generation are ready to take the reins when the time is right,” she said.

Read family business stories here and see Kate Carnell’s National Family Business Day video here.

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY experts have welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement this week of $1.6 billion in funding for ARENA, and $52 million for energy efficiency programs.

“The government’s commitment of $1.6 billion to ARENA – and expanding its remit to cover energy efficiency and energy management – is the right move. It shows the Government has heard our message that ARENA needs to be backed in so it can continue its important work. And the broadened remit will give ARENA the ability to take on some of the big innovation challenges of the coming decade,” said Luke Menzel, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council.

The Federal Government also announced funding for new and existing programs that will help businesses and households save energy and reduce their bills, including:

• $12 million to help small hotels and pubs save energy;
• $12 million to help community organisations lower their energy bills;
• funding for existing energy efficiency efforts, including programs that give consumers;
• information on the energy efficiency of buildings before they buy or lease; and
• $94 million to help businesses in the agriculture, manufacturing, industrial and transport sectors to adopt technologies that increase productivity and reduce emissions through a Technology Co-Investment Fund.

Council CEO Luke Menzel welcomed this funding, but said that the Federal and State governments were yet to grasp the big opportunity to drive a jobs boom through energy efficiency stimulus.

“These are sensible measures, but there is more to do," Mr Menzel said. "We can drive a jobs boom in energy efficiency by upgrading schools, hospitals and public housing, helping manufacturers to cut their energy bills; and supporting households and businesses to save energy in their buildings.

“That’s the course recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), who say governments should invest in energy efficiency for economic stimulus as it is the MOST jobs-rich field, far ahead of traditional sources of energy.

“Put simply, energy efficiency is a jobs machine. It is time to start it up.”

Construction and manufacturing jobs created per million dollars of capital investment in the Sustainable Recovery Plan

The Special Report on Sustainable Recovery, produced by the IEA in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, includes a comprehensive analysis of energy related stimulus options. Energy efficiency in buildings – both retrofits and new builds – topped the charts.

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ISSUES with travel to Western Australia can’t stop the parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge, with the Northern Australia Committee set to virtually go west next week to speak to Western Australian stakeholders.

Northern Australia Committee Chair Warren Entsch said despite the closure of the border with Western Australia, the Committee is continuing to take evidence from Western Australian stakeholders.

"The Committee remains committed to travelling to Western Australia, but in the meantime we will speak to as many people as we can by video and teleconference," Mr Entsch said.

"Monday’s hearing will allow us to speak to a range of people working on the frontline of heritage protection."

In its submission, the Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation highlighted the importance of Indigenous control of Indigenous heritage.

"Expert voices—Aboriginal people, archaeologists and anthropologists—supported by technical and regulatory infrastructure that befits a first world country, should substantially make these technical decisions," it said. "No single person should have the power, at the stroke of a pen, to destroy sacred places or places that are an important part of the human story."

Western Australian MLC, Robin Chapple, also emphasised the need to empower Traditional Owners in their dealings with government and industry.

"Claim wide participation agreements should cease," he argued. "These contracts, to a large degree, are structured in such a way that many of the signatories and participants to these claim wide contracts had little understanding of the enormity of the unfettered access granted by these agreements to mining corporations, over massive swathes of country."

Programs are available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Monday, 21 September 2020
Time: 10am to 1pm AEST
Location: By video/teleconference

Witnesses include:

Mr Cedric Davies (Submission 82)
Woodside Energy (Submission 79)
Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation (Submissions 38 & 44)
The Hon Robin Chapple MLC (Submission 65)

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

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THE Queensland Government campaign to attract more people into the teaching profession is an opportunity to fill the depleting ranks of industrial design teachers, according to the Queensland Resources Council.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said QRC has worked over the last 12 months with the government and a range of stakeholders to discuss the lack of industrial design – formerly known as 'manual arts' – teachers in Queensland schools.

Mr Macfarlane said the QRC on behalf of the State’s resources industry was working tirelessly with students and teachers to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in 75 secondary schools through the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA).

“QMEA is a joint initiative between industry and the Government to encourage Queensland students to embrace STEM and the future opportunities open to them in study and in work,” he said.

“The QRC absolutely welcomes efforts to attract more teachers, and we particularly want to see a strong focus on getting more manual arts teachers at the front of classrooms.

“Manual arts – or industrial design as it’s now known – gives students important hand skills that are critical to a range of industries, including resource sector jobs whether it is coal, minerals or gas.”

Mr Macfarlane said the QRC would continue to work with industry to build the capacity of Industrial Design Teachers by upskilling tradespeople who might have lost jobs during the COVID-19 health crisis.

In June this year, the QRC proposed to the government that it offer 20 scholarships at $40,000 per annum for four years to assist with the upskilling of tradespeople.

www.qrc.org.au

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