This Month
Turbocharge business investment tax break, Labor urged
Small business says Labor’s investment tax break is not ambitious enough to boost growth in the economy.
- Tom McIlroy
April
The unlikely CEO team tackling Australia’s toughest job
Bran Black and Luke Achterstraat represent business at the opposite ends of the spectrum but are determined to present a united front in Canberra.
- Patrick Durkin
‘We’ll stay off your backs’ Dutton tells business leaders
Peter Dutton has promised business leaders cheaper energy prices and less government interference under the Coalition.
- Tom McIlroy
March
Restaurant cancellation fees are popping up everywhere. Here’s why
Fine dining venues in Sydney and Melbourne are charging between $50 to nearly $200 a head for last-minute cancellations amid sustained cost pressures.
- Gus McCubbing
February
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Three ‘tricks’ to get $2m into your super in a year
Maximising contributions after selling a small business can add $2,062,500 to your retirement savings.
- Colin Lewis
January
- Opinion
- Opinion
Five big tests for small businesses in 2024
Cash flow, new IR rules, and the threat of cybercrime are making life for small enterprises even more precarious.
- Luke Achterstraat
- Opinion
- Business investment
Australia needs banks to invest in businesses, not houses
This country doesn’t need more luck to drive productivity, it needs strategies to help finance SMEs, and to make better use of existing energy infrastructure.
- Stephen Anthony
December 2023
After her power bill doubled, this grocer had to make a change
Relief on electricity prices is in sight after deep falls in wholesale prices, but the pain is acute in South Australia and NSW where power bills are highest.
- Ben Potter
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Senate horse-trading sends small business the bill for workplace complexity
The IR changes – and the opaque way changes have been prosecuted – run roughshod over the government’s commitment to make life easier for small business.
- Luke Achterstraat
November 2023
Greens IR deal would ‘radically reshape’ bargaining: business
Employers are urging Senate crossbenchers to oppose a Labor deal with the Greens on workplace laws.
- David Marin-Guzman
ATO warns small business to stop using tax to ‘prop up’ cash flow
Operators are increasingly using unpaid tax and superannuation liabilities to support their cash flow, attracting growing scrutiny from the Tax Office.
- Tom McIlroy
- Analysis
- Cybersecurity
Government turns around its Optus cyber debacle
Clare O’Neil’s cyber strategy is a strong first step to raising national standards, tackling plenty of areas where businesses need help, and leaving room for further reform.
- Paul Smith
September 2023
Labor to toughen sanctions for fraudulent personal property claims
The government also proposed a slew of changes to simplify registering and enforcing personal property interests in a bid to simplify lending for small businesses.
- Hannah Wootton
Gig worker shake-up not so sweet for pastry shop
Small business owners who rely on food delivery platforms are concerned slated changes to federal industrial laws will force them to pass on costs to customers.
- Tom Rabe
August 2023
Pocock clashes with government over small business red tape
David Pocock is demanding the government reduce red tape for small business by streamlining the payment of parental leave.
- Phillip Coorey
Big banks lashed for delaying business loan switchers
It’s not just mortgages but also SME loans where major banks take many weeks to free customers wanting to move to a new lender.
- James Eyers
July 2023
Small business may be carved out of casual changes
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has said he is consulting on potential small business exemptions to the government’s next wave of workplace reforms.
- David Marin-Guzman
Casuals to get ‘the whip hand’ under Labor’s six-month conversion test
Business says Labor’s new rights for regular casuals are a threat to small business flexibility, but unions say the government is treading “a middle line”.
- Updated
- David Marin-Guzman
SME lender Lumi rules off Series 3 round; attracts offshore investor
The fintech has added Israel’s largest insurance company to its register.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
‘We’re not starting at zero. Women start at minus 1000’
Female-founded start-ups receive less than 1 per cent of private investment in Australia. The Business Council of Australia plans to fix that.
- Tom McIlroy