Tasmania could become ‘start-up capital of Australia’ with new small business permit: Premier

The Tasmanian Government says it has a plan to make Tasmania the nation’s home of start-ups, with Premier Jeremy Rockliff revealing how he intends to make it happen.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff having a swing on the X-Golf Launceston simulator after announcing a new small business start-up permit. Picture: Supplied

Tasmania is poised to become the “start-up capital of Australia” after the implementation of a new red tape reduction initiative, Premier Jeremy Rockliff says.

Mr Rockliff kicked off the parliamentary year last week with a focus on eliminating excessive regulation in the small business sector.

On Sunday, the Premier announced that a small business start-up permit was expected to be introduced later this year and would allow entrepreneurs to quickly begin trialling new businesses.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff with X-Golf Launceston owner Marshall Pooley after announcing a new small business start-up permit. Picture: Supplied

The permit would last for 12 months, enabling start-ups to defer additional state and local government paperwork rather than lodging it immediately and paying for all the required permits upfront.

“Of course, those permits that are required will kick in. But in the meantime, we’ve got a small business up and running, employing people and providing the customer focus, of course, that Tasmanians will indeed be looking for,” Mr Rockliff said.

In his State of the State address last Tuesday, the Premier detailed new measures to cut red tape, including an examination of his government’s own programs.

He said the Liberals would reduce the number of required business licences in order to stimulate economic growth, as well as establish a ‘red tape portal’, which would allow Tasmanians to submit their personal experiences of encountering “unnecessary” red tape.

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Michael Bailey said the new permit would “supercharge” the state’s economy and was a world-first “as far as we can tell”.

TCCI CEO Michael Bailey. Picture: Chris Kidd

“What we’ll see because of this is not just a growth in entrepreneurial activity in Tasmania by Tasmanians, but mainlanders coming to our state to trial their businesses to see if they actually have a business case to move forward,” he said.

Marshall Pooley, the owner of golf simulation business X-Golf Launceston, said getting his business started would have been “a lot easier” had the start-up permit been available previously.

“Just the liquor licence alone, if you’re looking at that, it took us up to five months sort of to-ing and fro-ing with the [Liquour and Gaming] Commissioner to get that approved and then get us actually operating. So that alone, if we can get something that gets us trading and then be able to sort that out at a later date, that would be fantastic,” he said.

Labor leader Dean Winter.

Labor leader Dean Winter said the permit announcement was a “distraction” after Mr Rockliff “finally admitted he’s broken Tasmania’s budget”.

“[Labor has] been talking about red tape because we’ve been engaging with business,” he said.

“[The Premier] needs to get out there and speak to businesses and they’ll tell him what it’s like doing business under his government.”

Originally published as Tasmania could become ‘start-up capital of Australia’ with new small business permit: Premier