Healthy competition is one of the surest ways to lift long-term productivity growth, incomes, economic prospects and performance. It drives enterprises to excel and to find new ways to delight customers – new offerings, new entrants, better value and choice. A key responsibility of Government is to ensure the right settings are in place to…
The Government is making it easier for small businesses to access the capital they need to grow and thrive by removing obstacles to crowd-sourced equity funding. This change compliments the expanded tax concessions for Employee Share Schemes introduced in our 2015 Budget which passed in the last sitting of Parliament. I am pleased today to…
Stakeholders have an opportunity to shape the regulation of Australia’s $9.23 billion horticulture sector with the release today of an issues paper to inform the independent review of the mandatory Horticulture Code of Conduct. In June, Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, and Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, initiated the review of the Horticulture Code…
Joint Press Release with Minister Joyce: We welcome the announcement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today that Armidale will be the third regional location for its petrol pricing ‘deep dive’. In December 2014, the Abbott Government empowered the ACCC to conduct ‘deep dives’ into specific markets that it believed to require closer…
Around $100 million of carbon tax charges will be returned to local councils and be used to help reduce Australia’s emissions, as part of a new plan announced today. Labor’s painful carbon tax not only raised electricity and gas prices, but hit homeowners through higher council rates and waste charges. While some councils have already…
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) final carbon tax monitoring report confirms households are saving $550 on average per year since the Abbott Government abolished the harmful tax. This includes direct savings passed through to customers by electricity and natural gas retailers, which range from $153 to $269, as well as savings across a…
The Abbott Government has today announced updates to the Business Names registration rules as part of an ongoing commitment to ensuring Australia is a global leader in facilitating small business start-ups. An existing business may be devastated by a new entrant mimicking its name. Equally, a new business that inadvertently echoes the name of another…
The Government is today releasing exposure draft legislation that will simplify and modernise the methods used for calculating work‑related car expense deductions. The current rates and methods for calculating work-related car expenses were set in the 1980s. Nearly 30 years on, with developments in car engine technology, it is timely to update them. From 1…
Draft legislation to improve the integrity of the Zone Tax Offset is released today for public comment. The Zone Tax Offset is a concessional tax offset available to individuals in recognition of the isolation, uncongenial climate and high cost of living associated with living in particular locations. Broadly, to be eligible for the Zone Tax…
I am pleased to announce Ministers for Consumer Affairs across Australia have agreed the terms of reference for the first review of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) since its introduction on 1 January 2011. The main aim of the review is to assess the law’s impact on protecting consumers and streamlining regulatory requirements for businesses,…