John Durie: COSBOA in turmoil amid internal investigation and politicians’ calls for CEO Alexi Boyd to be sacked

The future of Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) CEO Alexi Boyd hangs in the balance today, after calls for her sacking from the federal Opposition and board leaks showing she was rolled on the industrial relations campaign last week.

In a statement last night, COSBOA chair Matthew Addison said Boyd was on leave and questions should be directed at him.

It is a bad time to take holidays. 

The small business lobby group is in chaos with a deeply divided board and yesterday members were told there will be an internal investigation into the board leaks.

This comes as senior leaders from the lobby group are due to meet today with major sponsor Commonwealth Bank on future campaigns, including against cybercrime. 

The CBA relationship was fostered under Boyd’s leadership, including her Cyber Wardens program, which is also backed by Telstra.

Boyd didn’t return phone calls on Tuesday and chair Matthew Addison declined to comment other than to say “process is process”.

But when a company chair tells members he is conducting an investigation into the board it tells you the organisation is in strife.

At the same time, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley issued a statement saying Boyd should be sacked, following talk about COSBOA in the Liberal Party room meeting yesterday.

In his release last night, Addison acknowledged Ley’s letter and stressed COSBOA’s focus is on “delivering for small business”.

This is hard when the lobby group itself is the centre of the news, not the members.  

As SmartCompany reported on Monday, a memo was sent from Boyd to the COSBOA board recommending COSBOA decline an invitation from the Minerals Council to join a national campaign against the federal government’s industrial relations policy.          

The memo advised against joining the campaign, saying “it ties us to big business too closely” and “I think it would burn too many bridges with the current government”.

While the focus is on Boyd, council members are also questioning the wider board leadership in the wake of the extraordinary internal bickering.

A joint press release with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) prior to the government’s Job Summit in September sparked the furore, with some members claiming they were not properly consulted.

However, Boyd’s comments in the release were deliberately twisted by the ACTU and the government to appear to support pattern bargaining when all she did was agree to more talks.

Perception quickly becomes reality in politics.

Boyd was feted at the Job Summit, appearing on the top table and scoring a seat on the Prime Minister’s plane from the Sydney Business Council of Australia dinner.

But one golden rule in politics says access is not influence, and that point was missed by Boyd.

COSBOA is like the ACTU in that it represents member bodies, not actual workers or small businesses. But it has a charter to represent small business and champion its needs in Canberra.

Member concerns are not directed at any one person but at the lack of competence on show.

After 10 years of strong leadership from Peter Strong, backed by former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims and two strong small business ombudsman in Kate Carnell and Bruce Billson, the wheels are falling off the bus at COSBOA.

Boyd took the job in June last year full of ideas and energy, but industrial relations have changed the tone.

This week’s industrial relations bill is just one step in the process; a white paper looms next year along with more reform that may not suit small business.

The battle is just beginning and it is time for COSBOA to play the main game.