This Saturday, October 4, is Small Business Day in Victoria. Yipee – I can hear you cheering from here. We Victorians are being hounded with TV ads telling us to shop in and support small businesses.
I am sure there are some in the current government who will point to this as support for small business. Such a claim would be disappointing and not the full story.
The best way any government helps any constituency is through policy as reflected in actions of the state legislature through to the actions of government departments as directed by their ministers.
The current Victorian government, like its predecessor, has presided over a period of almost no useful support for small business.
Take Myki, the public transport ticketing system. The current and last government saw small businesses sidelined in the sale of Myki tickets. Whereas previously newsagents were the key retail outlets offering these tickets for low but reasonable margin, since the launch of Myki 7-Eleven is the prime partner. This is small business policy in action.
Next time a Victorian politician claims they support small business, ask them how in legislation and department actions, ask them for evidence. I struggle to think of any.
The difficulty is that everybody who squeezes into a 7Eleven to buy something on the hop “sees” a small business, often run by a new immigrant. Even the Minister for Small Business. So, he’s supporting them.