Australians urged to support local businesses as war continues

0:00The Federal Treasure at Jim Charmers has moved to some of the flow on economic effects of the Middle East War, announcing the suite of measures for small business yesterday. The tax office will now limit compliance action and pause some debt collection for businesses unable to meet their tax obligations due to a fuel supply issues. Australians didn't choose this war, they're paying the price for this war at the petrol bazaar and more broadly as well. From an economic point of view, this war can't end soon enough, but the consequences will linger for longer and that's why in the interim we're working very closely together to try and shield Australians from the worst the world can throw at us. That's the treasure I'm speaking yesterday. Sky Capucho is the CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia. What do we talk about these specific relief measures for small business? What did you make of the Prime Minister's address last night, given that confidence is really

1:05key as to whether consumers will spend or not? I think the Prime Minister's address last night really spoke to an acknowledged what the community is feeling and gave us an indication of what the government is feeling. From a small business perspective, obviously he began by reiterating some of the relief that's being provided through the fuel exercise, which has definitely been something that as a small business community we have welcomed this week. What are your members telling you about the level of spending and confidence right now, especially for those businesses that rely heavily on the Easter long weekend? I think it's fair to say that there is a fair amount of anxiety across the community about how this weekend will play out in the few weekends in the lead up to Easter. We have definitely heard from businesses that rely very much on that weekend tourism trade that there's been a downturn there and these are significant weekends for them. They are coming to the end of the warmer months and often there's a lower tourist trade in the cooler months, so this period of time really matters.

2:08So the relief for small businesses that was announced yesterday, what are some of the measures there and do you think they will provide some help to those who need it? We very much welcome to the announcements yesterday, particularly the announcements about the temporary relief measures coming out of the ATO. They really are, the Treasury have called them yesterday, common sense messages and we would strongly agree, so they are sensible practical measures. They are things like providing for more flexible payment plans for people who are the tax office money, pausing some of the interest charges that can accrue if you do have debt. I think the key thing here is that they're recognising the need to prioritise maintaining cash flow for small business, which in this particular period in time when cash flow is really under a lot of pressure is very important and we also know that these flexible approaches in a tax office environment can actually support over the long term businesses to have greater compliance. The Council is on record as saying that a lot of small to medium enterprises have

3:10thought about closing their doors, given the rising costs over the past 18 to 24 months or so, do these measures give some confidence that small businesses can weather the storm? I think these measures are really important, they are practical and they do speak directly to the cash flow issues that are confronting small business. I think we do need to remember that the operating environment that small business was in, going into this particular crisis was already very tight. So small businesses over the last two years have already been experiencing particularly tight margins due to rising costs of doing business across a range of spaces and this comes on top of that. So it's definitely a we're definitely keen to ensure that we're giving small business the support they need. Skye also in the headlines this week has been the Reserve Bank's decision to scrap surcharge fees on cards. What does Cosbowell make of this announcement? This is an unfortunately timed announcement from our perspective.

4:12So the RBA made the decision that they would ban surcharge surcharging effective from October. The impact of that is that small businesses can no longer pass on the price, the cost that they incur from those transactions, which means that small businesses will need to be absorbing those costs, which puts greater pressure on them at a time when there is a lot of pressure already on them. Just before we finish up, what's the message to consumers as the uncertainty of the conflict in the Middle East continues and there are concerns about interest rates and inflation here at home? From a small business perspective, we would say it's very important to continue to support and engage with your local businesses and to support them how you can. Our message to small business is also one about making sure that you are watching and monitoring your cash flow and reaching out to your trusted advisors for support with that to the greatest extent you are possible.