COSBOA acknowledges the challenges presented by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the National Press Club today. COSBOA members know that small business people and their supporters are up to the challenge.
Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA, stated today “the Prime Minister’s focus on small business is commended and is indeed essential if we are to take the economy back to where it was in January 2020 and then further improve the economy with on-going support and changes needed to deal with the COVID and post-COVID world.”
COSBOA notes the emphasis on improving the vocational education and training system and on removing the complications of workplace relations. The creation of working groups focused on key workplace issues, groups that consist of industry representatives, union officials and others, to confront the issues and come up with agreed solutions is a necessary approach to an urgent issue.
Mr Strong added “if we give small business people the flexibility to create and grow business then innovation will be easier and positive outcomes achieved faster. We know that Australia needs the manufacturing sector in particular to proposer and grow. We need to achieve greater self-sufficiency with key and essential products and then from that create new export markets. To achieve that aim we need a workplace system that enhances businesses, rewards workers, and creates certainty for both workers and employers. Removing complexity is the fastest way to get more efficiency and productivity. We also need skilled workers and we need them now, not in 18 months’ time."
Mr Strong added "bipartisanship is the best way to get results; we will all need to leave ideology behind and focus on what is best for workers and employers. If we are to recover from the economic impact of COVID it will only be through a consensus or an industrial war. Consensus is essential – a war just creates pain and losers.”