THE Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) today congratulated the Federal Government on their “Repeal Day” initiative which will see the targeted removal of thousands of unnecessary compliance demands on business.

Peter Strong, Executive Director of COSBOA said Repeal Day represents a major milestone.

“The removal of red tape and the subsequent freeing up of small business people to run their companies, rather than do the work of governments has been a base aim of COSBOA since our founding in 1977.

“The announcement of “Repeal Day” in parallel with the stated aim of the government of removing $1 billion worth of compliance demands on business is exactly what we need.”

COSBOA and its member organisations are working with the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, who is tasked with achieving sense in business compliance.

COSBOA will be focusing on gathering information from small business people throughout Australia on what they want removed or changed and what difference it will make to their businesses.

“There is good compliance that is easy to manage, however there is also bad compliance processes. And, there are tasks we are asked to do, such as collecting superannuation, which get in the way of running small businesses.

“There are over 2 million business people who employ almost 5 million others, so removing unnecessary processes and red tape will add to the productivity of the economy, improve safety in the workplace and add to job security, in a profound and far reaching way,” Mr Strong concluded.

www.cosboa.org.au 

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PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is calling on the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to consider adjusting the current cash rate of 2.5 percent in order for the retail sector to contribute its full potential to the Australian economy in 2014.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said retailers are worried that a rate hike at this time of year would reverse the positive results that the industry has worked hard to achieve over the last few months, particularly during the booming Christmas period.

“The ARA believes the current cash rate has room for further adjustment and we have every hope that with the RBA’s support, the retail sector will experience a healthier and more successful year compared to the last.

“A reduction is also crucial to stimulate employment, particularly youth unemployment which has recently hit an 11-year low. The ARA is strongly concerned for the future of Australian retail workers and a reduction in the current cash rate would certainly support the retail industry and encourage employment opportunities for the leaders of tomorrow.

“The ARA is continuing to work alongside the government to rapidly implement its program of tax cuts and economic reform, and we urge the RBA to consider the retail sector when it meets to make their decision tomorrow,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $258 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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VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone’s comments on the Toyota announcement:

- The timing of Toyota’s announcement is something of a surprise and we are obviously very disappointed because it has made a significant contribution to Victoria over many years.

- VECCI is already working with the State Government on responding to the cessation of vehicle manufacturing as a member of the Premier's Automotive Industry Roundtable.

- We have also had input into the initial work of the Federal Government’s Economic Review panel for Victoria, established to inform the design of its $100 million Growth Fund to support the changing manufacturing industry.

- We’ll now look at what further work we can do to support the business community as it responds.

- As the Victorian economy continues to undergo change it is more important than ever that governments work with business to capitalise on our enduring strengths and overcome the obstacles.

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.

www. vecci.org.au 

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PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association today welcomes new NSW Small Business Commissioner Robyn Hobbs OAM and thanks former NSW Small Business Commissioner Yasmin King for all of her hard work and dedication to small business over the last few years.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the ARA is eager to work alongside Ms Hobbs once she officially begins her new role on 25 February 2014.

“The ARA looks forward to working alongside Ms Hobbs to ensure the retail sector remains viable and successful into the future. We are especially pleased to hear that one of Ms Hobbs’ first challenges is to review the Retail Leases Act.

“On behalf of the ARA and the wider retail industry, I would like to wish Yasmin King every success for the future. The retail sector have benefited greatly from Ms King’s ongoing support.

“Small businesses are the backbone of Australia's economy, representing 96 percent of all businesses in the country. In NSW alone, there are 680,000 small businesses employing around 50 percent of the NSW workforce,” 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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PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said the seasonally adjusted rise (0.5 percent increase) in monthly retail trade figures (month-on-month) reported today by the ABS followed a 0.7 percent rise in November 2013.

These results are a positive sign that pre-Christmas sales were slow yet steady, with higher expectations for the January post-Christmas sales.

Year on year retail growth also increased to 5.6 percent.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the 0.5 percent increase in monthly retail trade figures is a positive sign for the retail industry following previous weak Christmas sales. This is also an indication that some categories remain on a slow growth path and the need to fix the GST tax inequality caused by overseas purchases is imperative.

“It is essential that the government finally makes a decision to close the low value GST loophole. Australian retailers have been competing at a disadvantage for too long, and it is only fair that the closing of the GST loophole is made a priority.

“We are certainly expecting higher trade results in January, as there have been reports that the post-Christmas sales period was extremely successful, fuelled largely by booming Boxing Day sales.

“Anecdotally, a number of retailers I have spoken to since Christmas have been blown away by how enormous Boxing Day was and we expect this will be evident in January’s retail trade figures.

“It’s no surprise that food retailing (2.5%) and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.5%) were large contributors to the December results due to the warm weather and social events associated with Christmas parties, celebrations and end-of-year holidays.

“These rises were partially offset by falls in other retailing (-3.1 percent), clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-2.1 percent) and household goods retailing (-0.2 percent) following a strong November.

“The ARA was also pleased to see turnover rise in New South Wales (0.9%), Victoria (0.6%), Queensland (0.2%), Tasmania (1.8%), Australian Capital Territory (1.3%) and Western Australia (0.1%) in December and very strong year on year sales,” Mr Zimmerman said.

MONTHLY RETAIL GROWTH (November 2013 – December 2013 seasonally adjusted)

Food retailing (2.5%),

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.5%),

Department stores (0.3%),

Household goods retailing (-0.2%),

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-2.1%), and

Other retailing (-3.1%).

Total sales (0.5%).

Tasmania (1.8%),

Australian Capital Territory (1.3%),

New South Wales (0.9%),

Victoria (0.6%),

Queensland (0.2%),

Western Australia (0.1%),

South Australia (-0.2%) and

Northern Territory (-1.5%).

Total sales (0.5%).

YEAR-ON-YEAR RETAIL GROWTH (December 2012 – December 2013 seasonally adjusted)

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (10.4%),

Food retailing (6.8%),

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (5.5%),

Other retailing (3.8%),

Household goods retailing (3.3%), and

Department stores (-0.5%).

Total sales (5.6%).

Tasmania (8.0%),

Australian Capital Territory (7.2%),

New South Wales (7.2%),

Victoria (5.9%),

Queensland (4.8%),

South Australia (4.3%),

Western Australia (3.0%) and

Northern Territory (2.8%).

Total sales (5.6%).

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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PEAK retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is concerned for the future of small business after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the current cash rate of 2.5 percent unchanged today.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said it continues to be extremely difficult for businesses, especially small to medium businesses, to expand and contribute their full potential to the Australian economy without sufficient financial support in the post GFC finance world.

“It is crucial that the RBA and government work together to find a way of supporting small business finance availability. Without access to much-needed finance, the retail sector will not be able to move forward and develop.

“The ARA is also worried that a rate stay at this time of year may reverse the positive results that the industry has worked hard to achieve over the last few months, particularly during the booming Christmas period.

“We were also hoping for a reduction in the current cash rate in order stimulate employment, particularly youth employment which has recently hit an 11-year low. The ARA is strongly concerned for the future of Australian retail workers and a reduction today would have certainly supported the retail industry and encouraged employment opportunities for the leaders of tomorrow.

“While business needs support it is also important for consumers to continue to have relief on their stretched budgets to allow them to support the retail economy.

“The ARA believes the current cash rate has room for further adjustment and we have every hope that with the RBA’s support, the retail sector will experience a healthier and more successful year compared to the last,” 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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QUEENSLAND's peak body for the resources sector has welcomed the release today of the Australian Government's progress report to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of the Great Barrier Reef ('the State Party Report').

Queensland Resource Council Chief Executive Michael Roche says the report outlines the significant progress made by Australia in the past 12 months to comprehensively deliver on the requests of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) concerning the management of the Reef.

'The State Party Report again documents the real threats to the reef as being extreme weather events, the potential effects of climate change, the crown of thorns starfish infestations and nutrient and sediment run-off from land clearing and broad-scale agriculture,' Mr Roche said.

'Flying in the face of the hysterical reaction from some quarters to the granting on Friday of a dredging permit at Abbot Point, the State Party report identifies impacts from port development and dredging as minor, temporary and localised.'

Mr Roche congratulated the Australian and Queensland Governments and their partners in industry and the research community for the fine work being done to turn around the health of the reef, particularly with the efforts on controlling the crown of thorns infestations and improving agricultural practices.

'I urge everyone interested in the health of the reef to read the State Party Report,' said Mr Roche. 'The report documents for example the severe impacts of cyclones and the resultant flood plumes.'

Mr Roche said the report also outlined the measures being pursued with industry support to further enhance shipping safety and reduce the environmental impacts of shipping, under the North East Shipping Management Plan.

'ndustry also has lent its support to the Queensland Government's ports strategy, which restricts any significant port development to existing ports such as Abbot Point and Gladstone.

Mr Roche said that one gap in the State Party Report was that it overlooked the economic contribution of the resource sector operations that rely on ports adjacent to the Reef.

'In 2012-13, Queensland resources operations directly injected spending of $38 billion into the Queensland economy, and was responsible for one in four dollars of the Queensland economy and one in five jobs.'

www.qrc.org.au 

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SYDNEY ‒ A new online social trading community for serious investors, TradingFloor.com, was revealed in beta today by Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

Saxo Capital Markets (Australia) Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank, and is also offering TradingFloor.com to its clients. The new portal enables traders around the world to share their trades with peers and transforms trading into a social experience.

"We want to set free the peer-to-peer power of traders around the globe by enabling them to minded investors who are tired of input from CEOs Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen said in a joint statement.

On the new site, live now at beta.tradingfloor.com, investors can share their trades in a community where all performance data is verified so traders can be sure of the performance of the people they choose to follow or copy.

Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen believe it may be a game changer:

"Having once revolutionised online trading as a first mover in 1998, we now want to democratise the access to trading and fund management by opening up an otherwise closed world of trading.

"We now enable investors to share their trades openly, interact with each other, post comments and strategies, discuss, follow and copy each other. We believe that this may change radically how investors will go about trading FX, CFDs, options, futures, bonds and equities in the future, making trading a social experience,” they said.

At the new TradingFloor.com, you can see what the best participating traders are doing with their own money in any asset class of your choice.

"We are deliberately only featuring real traders with real accounts trading their own money to ensure a social trading community of serious investors.”

The new TradingFloor.com also features a range of valuable content for traders, such as market news and views, data, insights and trade ideas from Saxo’s research teams and VIP authors.

A real-time trade stream will reveal the current market sentiment. British award-winning ITV News correspondent Angus Walker has joined Saxo and will, along with former Bloomberg and BBC World anchor Owen Thomas, front the portal’s on-demand TV channel by reporting from Saxo’s own trading floor.

www.saxomarkets.com.au

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