Author: Mark Fletcher

If the last fifteen years are anything to go by, the 2010 federal election is likely to produce little in the way of results for newsagents.

John Howard was the last party leader to talk up newsagents – he used to remind us how he like the sound of the morning newspaper landing on the doorstep – but he offered little support for newsagents.

Even in terms of small business, both sides of politics have done little to genuinely support Australia’s small businesses.  They tend to prefer to give auto manufacturers, mining companies and other big businesses more attention and truckloads of cash.

I think that small business owners and newsagents have every right to cynical about all politicians.  Sure, some local members do engage and genuinely listen, but what have they actually done?

If I could control what the next government would deliver for Australian newsagency businesses, the families which rely on them for an income and the communities in which they serve, here is what I would like to see:

• A Productivity Commission review of the impact of deregulation of newspaper and magazine distribution and sales facilitated by the Howard government in 1999.  It is appropriate that government holds its economic restructuring decisions up to the light to assess the impact and whether consumers have benefited as was expected and to assess the cost of the restructure on thousands of family businesses.  When government policy led to pharmacy closures, the government paid compensation.  Maybe compensation should have been offered for what was taken away in 1999.
• An independent review into the retail business of the government owned Australia Post outlets and an assessment of their operation against current world best practice.  Australia Post continues to use its government ownership to unfairly compete through its government owned stores against family run newsagencies.  Family newsagencies would be stronger if the government owned retail outlets were not competing using a government protected monopoly brand.
• An independent review of the Fair Work Act and the impact on small businesses.  There are too many stories of hardship for them to be made up.  I am not saying scrap it, just work harder at getting it right.
• A thorough review of the magazine distribution system by the ACCC with individual newsagents given the opportunity to provide magazine sell through, cash-flow and other data to demonstrate the economic impact of the current model as it relates to newsagents compared to other magazine retailers – with a view to the ACCC extracting undertakings from magazine distributors.
• The introduction of national retail lease standards and dispute resolutions processes for small businesses.  The differences between the states are considerable.
• Regulatory(and legislative if necessary) support for the impact of changes to the newsagency channel as a result of disruption.  We will see considerable change in our businesses in the term of the next government.  Some of us have shop leases which will not permit us adjust our businesses sufficiently thorough the changes.

What newsagents, and small businesses generally, do not need from political candidates is platitudes.  We have had enough of those over the last fifteen years or so.

We keep hearing that small business is the backbone of the country.  It is time for politicians to demonstrate this.

The Small Business Minister ought to be one of the brightest and best ministers available, a fighter who can represent the constituency with passion and strength at the cabinet table.

Any small business advisory group should be made up of real small business people and not those who are politically connected.

A small business development plan needs to be created to encourage existing small businesses and to support entrepreneurship.

I would love small business issues to be front and centre in this campaign.  Somehow, I suspect we will be a footnote on the biggest personality content this country has ever seen.