RECEIVE CAMPAIGN UPDATESMEDIA RELEASE | Supporting sustainable small business
The ACT Greens lead candidate for Brindabella Amanda Bresnan today announced the ACT Greens initiative to encourage the growth of small businesses in the ACT.
“There are around 24,000 small businesses operating in the ACT, which contribute to the richness and diversity of the ACT business environment. The ACT Greens want to see small businesses become more viable and competitive in the ACT economy, and we will introduce initiatives to encourage this”, Ms Bresnan said.
“Since the loss of the Small Business Commissioner and the ACT Government Business Advisory Service after the 2006 Functional Review, the only remaining small business advisory service has been outsourced to a national accounting firm, leaving no ACT-based knowledge or ongoing engagement”.
“It is important that we help small businesses to ensure that they are not the hardest hit by the global economic situation. Providing stability and advice are two of the best ways we can support small business”.
“We also need to take into consideration the significance of a retail slump to local retail businesses”.
“The ACT Greens would establish a network of small business advisors to provide small business advice based on a knowledge and understanding of business conditions in the ACT region”.
“This network would work to bring together key parts of the ACT small business community such as small environmental industries, health and wellbeing service providers, services for the aged, and other priority growth areas for the ACT”.
“The ACT Greens would also continue stronger support for small business incubators, but would ensure that the involvement of businesses is not time-limited but based on when a business is ready to progress.”
Other initiatives will include:
-Initiating a roundtable of small businesses to assess small business needs in the ACT.
-Requiring pre-approval cost-benefit analyses of large new commercial developments to include a small business impact statement.
-Promoting the position of small business in tenancy agreements.
-Requiring the ACT Government to pay invoices from small businesses within 28 business days.
-Ensuring that small businesses are not discriminated through Government tendering processes. This includes appropriate insurance cover, ISO standards and certifications.
“The proposals of the ACT Greens are all about how we plan the future of the ACT and encourage local initiative. We need to add depth and quality to the ACT economy, and small businesses will play a key role in this”, Ms Bresnan said
