By Bronwyn Hastings

Ararat business owners met with Federal Member for Wannon Dan Tehan and Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa-Price to voice concerns about issues affecting small business.

Part of a three-day visit across the Wannon electorate, Mr Tehan and Ms Nampijinpa-Price, the shadow minister for small business, skills and training, met with business and organisation representatives at roundtables and street walks to hear about challenges affecting small businesses.

Lucy Black, owner of Hounds Run Vineyard, a bed and breakfast in Great Western and Grampians-based Black and Ginger wines, told the round-table ‘red tape’, seasonal worker conditions and access to grants needed to change to benefit small businesses.

“We’re a small producer as a primary production operation, we never qualify for any support, such as drought relief or even the bushfire relief that was offered last year,” she said.

“Even though our reduction in income was 75 per cent, it didn’t amount to $10,000 – it was $7500, but for us, that’s significant. We only got $10,000 in income in the past financial year.”

Ms Black said seasonal workers’ conditions were difficult to navigate – she said there should be less ‘red tape’ around employing people.

She called for the reintroduction of a program called Willing Workers On Organic Farms.

“As a farmer or an employer, we would provide food and board and workers were required to do four hours of work a day for that food and board. But that’s no longer accepted under the 88 Visa scheme because a lot of unscrupulous, larger farmers rorted the system and treated people badly,” she said.

“I think it should be reintroduced for farmers who don’t turn over more than $100,000 a year.”

Ms Black said drawing a low income from three businesses and supplementing a wage with contract work also presented issues for her and her husband’s healthcare.

Ararat Motor Inn owner Kylie Manski raised the sudden closure of Aradale, which she said would cost her motel 75-80 per cent of their weekend business.

She said as a small business, changes to family trust and capital gains concerned her, as did staffing regulations.

“Staffing is a big issue, trying to get staff is hard,” she said.

“The regulations and the changes around HR and the normal red tape that you’ve got to do to tick all the boxes. It takes up a lot of your time, and time is money.”

Ms Nampijinpa-Price said small business hardships were a common theme across the country.

“It’s not surprising at all how bloody hard the environment is for small business right around the country, and then I’m hearing more of the same here in Victoria,” she said.

“Regulation, being one of those compliances, is a huge cost and a huge burden to businesses, which is why we as the Coalition want to get rid of one, really obvious area, in terms of net-zero.”

Ms Nampijinpa-Price said new policy announcements regarding energy would be announced soon, in a bid to reduce the cost of electricity, and the Coalition also planned to introduce an instant asset write-off with a permanent increase to $50,000.

Mr Tehan said it had been fantastic to have Ms Nampijinpa-Price visit the area.

“She’s a great listener, and she will take the feedback and make sure we represent that in our policies going forward,” he said.

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