Newsagents' Cautiously Welcome Budget Help
Media Release
April 2 2009
Newsagents' Cautiously Welcome Budget Help
The peak body overseeing Australia's largest single group of small business retailers has welcomed reports the Rudd government will help the sector in the May budget.
The Australian Newsagents' Federation (ANF) says the plan to support the nation's 2 million small businesses is welcome news to newsagents under considerable pressure, and looks forward to hearing the detail.
ANF CEO Anthony Matis said newsagents have also backed Treasurer Wayne Swan's launch of an investigation into the credit squeeze on small and medium companies.
"Both these initiatives are good news and will go some way to protecting jobs and helping newsagents survive in difficult times," Mr Matis said.
"There is already considerably new pressure on newsagents with the government's Fair Work Bill making it more difficult to hire staff particularly on weekends, so I hope what is in the May budget just doesn't off-set those imposts.
"The ANF told the government's Banking Summit last month there was a strong need to look at what is causing the additional financial pressures on small business and we hope this investigation finds out."
The two government initiatives come at the same time as the release of the Australian Bureau of Statistic's figures for February showing a seasonally adjusted 2% drop in retail sales for the month.
"The government has been telling us Australia will not be immune from an inevitable economic contraction so I hope the measures planned to support small business in the May budget are significant.
"Newsagencies are unique in the way their business model has to work in with major publishers and newsagents don't always have total control over their cash flow. For instance, a decision by a publisher to run a marketing campaign may cost the newsagent at a time that may not be financially convenient.
"So meaningful assistance from the government as it frames a policy response to the current economic downturn is what newsagents will be looking for," Mr Matis said.
There are nearly 5000 individually owned newsagencies in Australia turning over $6.5 billion a year and employing 20,000 people. The local newsagency in Australia is seen as the last bastion of community based retailing in the country with 83% of Australians visiting their local newsagency at least once a week.
The recent economic downturn has put pressure on contractual obligations some agents have with publishers ; financial pressures are exacerbated by the threat of the higher cost of staff.
For Further information contact Anthony Matis at ANF on 0407 278 142
or Geoff Mullins at Pan Communications on 0402 070 225