MORE than one hundred Queensland businesses are on the road to growing their revenue following the first 2014 Queensland Small Business Week event in Brisbane today.

Business owners from Brisbane, Townsville, Pittsworth, Gold Coast, Mount Isa, Sunshine Coast either attended or live-streamed a panel discussion about becoming one of Queensland’s Small Business Tigers at QUT Gardens Point, Brisbane.

The event Are you a Small Business Tiger? How do you become one? was the first of five events to be hosted by Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Business and the Commonwealth Games from 1-6 September.

2014 Queensland Small Business Week is a Queensland Government initiative recognising the role small business plays in the Queensland economy.

The panel included:

• Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games, Jann Stuckey MP
• QUT Business School’s Professor Per Davidsson
• Media personality turned entrepreneur Emily Jade O’Keeffe
• Managing Director of DBM Consultants Dhruba Ghupta
• Chief Marketing Officer of Liquid State Kit Kriewaldt
• Paul Niederer, CEO from Australian Small Scale Offerings.

Ms Stuckey said participants heard how a Queensland company was taking on the world with their products and from an authority on how entrepreneurs start, develop and harvest their ventures.

Also on this week in Brisbane, Premier Campbell Newman will officially launch 2014 Queensland Small Business Week at a business lunch at Ithaca Auditorium, City Hall on Tuesday, 2 September. The keynote speaker is Professor Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School, and head of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit, USA.

On the Sunshine Coast, the CEO of “America’s coolest little start-up” TerraCycle, Tom Szaky, will join Facebook consultant and entrepreneur Nick Bowditch on stage at the Sunshine Coast University Innovation Centre on Wednesday 3 September. The event #Accelerating Small Business includes a question and answer session with the guests.

On Friday, 5 September former international cricketer Matthew Hayden will address a business lunch, Turn your ideas into action, at Roma Explorers Inn.

Registrations are now open at www.business.qld.gov.au/smallbusinessweek. 

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IN ORDERING a trucking employer pay $16,000 compensation to a former employee sacked for urinating on client property, the Fair Work Commission is again undermining managerial capacity to address clear cut workplace misconduct, says AMMA chief executive Steve Knott.

In Cowan v Sargeant Transport Pty Ltd, Commissioner Michelle Bissett found the former employee’s conduct was ‘unacceptable’, ‘unprofessional’ and his termination valid, after the truck driver was caught on CCTV urinating outside the entrance to a Woolworths warehouse during a delivery.

However, the Commissioner upheld the employee’s unfair dismissal claim and ordered compensation for lost income, citing concerns over the investigation process.

“It beggars belief that an employer could be found to have a valid reason to sack someone for clear misconduct and then be slapped with a $16,000 penalty for unfair dismissal,” Mr Knott says.

“This decision is just the latest example of the Fair Work Commission complicating and confusing matters involving clear breaches of community standards and company policies.

“Valid reasons for dismissal are being increasingly subjected to the discretionary whims of tribunal members, most of whom have little or no experience in running a business, seeking to substitute their decision for that of qualified business managers.”

Other Fair Work rulings demonstrating this concerning trend include:

• Employer DP World ordered to reinstate an employee who seriously assaulted his supervisor.
• A ferry master being reinstated after crashing a passenger vessel and then failing a drug test. 
• Ruling Australia Post employees were dismissed unfairly after distributing porn to co-workers.

Mr Knott says introducing a separate independent body to hear appeals of FWC decisions would deliver greater consistency and balance in tribunal decisions.

While the FWC President has publicly defended the Commission’s existing appeals processes, this new jurisdiction would result in far less unmeritorious cases being brought before the Commission and fewer costly appeals.

“A properly separate, genuinely independent appeals jurisdiction would refocus the tribunal on simple, consistent determinations. Over time, this consistency would see far fewer employers having to defend claims which should never have made it to hearing in the first place,” Mr Knott says.

“While AMMA represents many large employers, more than half of our members employ less than 500 people. For these employers, unnecessary business costs of this nature is revenue foregone which could otherwise have been invested in employment generating initiatives.

“An independent appeals body would reflect international best practice, such as in the UK. It would set clearer precedents for employers to follow, reduce the number of costly, unnecessary matters and further appeals, and restore confidence in our national employment tribunal.”

www.amma.org.au

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SOUTH-EAST Queensland business owners can learn how to unleash ‘the small business tiger within’ as part of the 2014 Queensland Small Business Week celebrations.

The Queensland Government is hosting a panel discussion in Brisbane with some of the nation’s best business minds on how to join the ranks of Queensland’s small business tigers on Monday, September 1.

Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games Jann Stuckey MP, said the panel discussion was the first of over 100 events across the state celebrating the 2014 Queensland Small Business Week from September 1-6.

“The panel discussion focuses on small business tigers, which are small businesses that expect to grow their revenue substantially in the next 12 months,” Ms Stuckey said.

“Research has shown that Queensland has 50 percent more small business tigers than any other state.

“The discussion will also be streamed live across Queensland, allowing interested business owners outside Brisbane to learn how to grow their business.”

The panel discussion will be held at Room Three Sixty, QUT Precinct, Gardens Point and is $20 to register. It is free to register to live stream the discussion.

Ms Stuckey said participants would hear from a Queensland company taking on the world with their products, the managing partner of a new crowd-sourced equity firm, and from an authority on how entrepreneurs start, develop and harvest their ventures.

She said media personality Adam Spencer will be the compere.

“The 2014 Queensland Small Business Week celebrates the important role small business plays in the Queensland economy,” Ms Stuckey said.

“Small business employs about one million Queenslanders and accounts for around 95 percent of all business in the state.

“I encourage all Queensland business, industry, government and community to get involved. Last year we saw 4500 people engage in this great event and this year will be even bigger.”

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland Brisbane West president Ian Kilpatrick said he encouraged small business owners to take the opportunity to network and “look out for each other”, and that he fully supported 2014 Queensland Small Business Week.

“Our mantra has always been: businesses helping businesses to do better business,” Mr Kilpatrick said.

“Small businesses have to be flexible, nimble and brave in embracing the digital economy and technology to realise their true potential and be successfully regionally, nationally and internationally, and this Queensland Government initiative as part of Queensland Small Business Week will help educate and hone small business operators’ skills to be more competitive.

“This is a great opportunity for our small business sector to partner with the Queensland Government to bring focus on policy and issues affecting small business operators, to help create a better business environment, grow profitability for small business and power our state’s economy.”

To register and live-stream this event go to: www.business.qld.gov.au/smallbusinessweek

QUEENSLAND BUSINESS QUICK FACTS

• Small business employs about one million people
• Brisbane has about 115,826 businesses and start-ups
• There are over 403,000 small businesses in Queensland
• Small business accounts for around 95 percent of all Queensland business.

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VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone has called on both major parties to commit to recommendations to address youth unemployment in Victoria.

Mr Stone said the key action areas were:

Raise the payroll tax free threshold from $550,000 to $850,000, to lower business costs and encourage employers to hire new staff, including youth. 

Deliver priority infrastructure projects across the state, maximising opportunities for apprentices and trainees. 

 Redirect vocational education and training funding to support career paths in the service sector (hospitality, tourism, retail and administration). Restore support for School Based Apprenticeships (part time training). 

Fund additional places under the Victorian Government’s Employment Start-Up for Business program that provide SME employers with a grant of up to $4,000 to support the recruitment and training of a young person aged 15 to 25 years who works at least 30 hours per week.

The Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the peak body for employers in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au

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THE peak representative body for Queensland’s minerals and energy exporters has rejected claims that China would cut its reliance on coal-fired power in coming decades.

Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Michael Roche said it was disappointing that economist Professor Ross Garnaut – the author of climate reviews for the Rudd and Gillard governments – was continuing to put ideology ahead of hard data.

"Professor Garnaut is correct in observing that renewable energy is on the rise, but the undisputed fact is that coal produces more than 40 percent of the world's electricity and is forecast to overtake oil as the globe’s largest source of primary energy," Mr Roche said.

"China is the world’s largest consumer of energy with coal meeting almost 70 percent of its requirements, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

"China uses as much coal as the rest of the world combined and the International Energy Agency says it will continue to drive coal demand for the rest of this decade, followed in the 2020s by India and ASEAN countries.

"ASEAN country electricity generation is forecast to grow by more than the current power output of India, and coal is the fuel of choice, accounting for 58 percent of the growth."

Mr Roche cited news reports this week that Qinhuangdao – China’s largest coal port – is set for record deliveries over the next three years as urbanisation boosts demand.

Bloomberg reported that imports of coal through Qinhuangdao are expected to rise by 20-30 million tonnes by 2017, after a peak of 279 million tons in 2011.

"The port, the delivery point for about 40 percent of China’s seaborne coal, is a barometer of the nation’s economy, former Premier Wen Jiabao said in 2008. Gross domestic product rose 7.5 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, the first acceleration in three quarters," the Bloomberg report says.

"The anti-coal movement in Australia is trying to shut down our second largest export industry and hundreds of thousands of jobs based on two falsehoods," Mr Roche said.

"The first is that global demand for coal is faltering when organisations including the International Energy Agency and their 29-member country forecasters say otherwise.

"The second is that Australia should stop exporting coal when it would be simply purchased from other sources with no net benefit to the environment.

"Coal is here to stay, and to reduce its carbon footprint, low-emission generation technology is the key.

"That’s just not the coal industry talking – it’s the Climate Institute (Australia) and other leading ENGOs," Mr Roche said.

www.qrc.org.au

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THE Queensland Resources Council has congratulated Glencore International AG on its selection by the state government as preferred developer of the Aurukun bauxite deposit on Western Cape York.

QRC Chief Executive Michael Roche said today the job creating potential of a new bauxite project on the Cape was welcome news for Queensland, the Far North region and especially the Aurukun community.

‘Cape York needs industry development to deliver jobs and the improved economic and social outcomes that flow from them,’ Mr Roche said.

‘The Cape has vast potential but a recent history of stop-start development proposals has eroded local community confidence.

‘By selecting a tier one resources company such as Glencore as preferred proponent, the state government is giving the Aurukun project every opportunity for success.’ 

www.qrc.org.au

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PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association congratulates Dhun Karai, Head of Group Financial Services & General Manager Woolworths Money, on her recent appointment to the Australian Payments Council.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the ARA has worked alongside Ms Karai for many years and looks forward to continuing their positive relationship.

“Ms Karai has been an active member of the Australian Merchant Payments System and has always taken a great interest in payments issues.

“She has always ensured that retailers across Australia are getting the best result possible by working with the sector to ensure outcomes that support retailers.

“On behalf of the ARA I would like to congratulate Ms Karai once more on her new role and I look forward to working alongside her in the future to support the retail industry,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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