Peter Strong: Why Australia’s music industry needs more Cat Empires and less bureaucratic empires
Australian musicians are small-business owners, and so need recognition, support, incentives and pathways in order to succeed.
Peter Strong: Why the unions’ proposed wage increase will see job cuts and small business collapses
The ACTU’s 'living wage' increase will almost certainly result in cost of living increases, a widespread loss of jobs and small business collapses.
Labor looks to lock in minimum ‘living wage’ hike as momentum builds for Fair Work changes
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has made a principled commitment to increase the minimum wage, saying the current rate is hard for workers to live off.
PaTH mess: Business owes taxpayers $17,000 after churning 17 interns in a year
The government's PaTH internship program has come under fire again, as it was revealed one business churned through 17 interns without hiring one.
Keeping finance fair: AFCA’s new small biz ombudsman prepares for royal commission compensation claims
AFCA's new small business ombudsman is preparing for a busy first year as post-royal commission compo claims fly in to the new complaint body.
Government could lose key vote in lower house over small business access to justice reforms
Uncontroversial access to justice reforms are set to become a political football next week as the government faces losing a second vote in the lower house.
Fair Work Commission gets $1.4 million to expand free legal advice service for unrepresented businesses
The government has committed an extra $1.4 million to provide unrepresented businesses with free legal advice about workplace issues.
Hayne balks at calls for SME-lending reform and deputises ASIC as code cop
The banking royal commission has stopped short of advocating broad changes to SME lending, prompting criticism it has not gone far enough.
Business groups will be empowered to force ACCC investigations under Labor’s “super-complaint” policy
Selected small-business advocacy groups will be empowered to direct the nose of the ACCC if Labor wins the next election.
Government to extend instant asset write-off, rebuffing calls to make it permanent
The government will extend its instant asset write-off but has not announced any plans to improve the awareness or accessibility of the program.
“It all went to shit”: Why aren’t small businesses using the PaTH internship program?
The government's Youth Jobs PaTH program was spruiked as a new approach to employment services, but it has failed to get many SMEs interested.
Peter Strong: What will 2019 bring, and what do small businesses want?
There will be an election in 2019, and small business owners make up a huge chunk of eligible voters, so here are the issues we have our eyes on.
