Turnbull should trumpet his small business wins

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, Senator John Williams (rear), and Employment Minister Senator Michaelia Cash listen as PM Malcolm Turnbull addresses truckies at an anti-RSRT rally of owner/drivers at Exhibition Park in Canberra.

Its too early write off Malcolm Turnbull’s government. We have just seen a volley of somewhat misleading commentaries in all forms of media claiming that Malcolm Turnbull had achieved virtually nothing in his first year of office and members of the Coalition are bracing themselves for a drubbing at the hands of Bill Shorten at the next election.

Even Malcolm Turnbull would have to concede that his first year as Prime Minister was a great disappointment, particularly on the economic management side.

But there were two enormous achievements on the small business front that ranked with anything Tony Abbott had achieved. The Turnbull government overturned Tony Abbott’s stance on standardised, non-negotiated and unfair contracts between large organisations and businesses with less than 20 employees.

The act, passed in November 2015, was one of the most significant pieces of corporate legislation in the past decade. It will change the lives of over one million people and cause millions of contracts to be renegotiated. The legislation does not come into effect until November 12, 2016 so only contracts signed after that date will find their unfair sections declared void.

Accordingly it will take at least a year before the real impact of the legislation significantly changes corporate behaviour (The unfair contract legislation is a big deal, August 10).

The second major achievement maintained efficiency and fair play in the transport sector. Without the strong legislation passed by the Turnbull government we would now be seeing thousands of owner-drivers being bankrupted. The Gillard Labor government set up a left wing body that, under the guise of road safety, set about making owner-drivers uneconomic and have them replaced by employees who were members of the Transport Workers Union. Turnbull abolished the body and thwarted its aims (Truckies saved after Turnbull remembers how business works, April 19).

Significantly, both these achievements were in the small business sector.

If the Turnbull Coalition government ever woke up to the fact that its greatest potential asset is small business, it would be very hard to beat at the next election. Barnaby Joyce understands the game and grabbed the vital small business portfolio for the Nationals.

Since the election the government has also come to its senses on superannuation (At last, super common sense, September 15).

Readers who save via superannuation and who have spare cash can take up their current entitlement to inject into their superannuation fund tax-paid funds of $180,000 over one year or $540,000 over three years.

After July 1 2017, tax-paid or so called “non-concessional” contributions are limited to $100,000 a year until the fund reaches $1.6 million.

The new social services minister, Christian Porter, is also researching a new way of approaching social services payments. It may not work but it shows initiative.

Porter is a former WA treasurer and is touted as replacement to Scott Morrison if the Treasurer continues to listen to the bad advice being handed to him (he might even become Prime Minister if Turnbull stumbles).

Turnbull has lots to do, apart from the most prominent task of reducing the deficit. The failure of both the Abbott and Turnbull governments to end duplication with the states and to stop the rorting of the pension scheme for public servants who joined prior to 2007 are national scandals.

Turnbull needs to open a dialogue with the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau over defence matters, led by discussion over the joint strike fighter. Canadians have woken up to the fact that the JSF will cause America to fall behind China and Russia in air power. We need to work with the Canadians.

And, of course, Turnbull and his people need to work out a way to negotiate with the crossbench senators. Sometimes, but not always, small majority governments become very good.

Menzies won the 1961 election by one seat and then the Coalition stayed in power until 1972, albeit with different leaders after Menzies retired.

The superannuation turn around and the deal with the ALP over $6bn worth of cuts shows that the post-election Turnbull government might be very different to past Coalitions.

Again, don’t write Malcolm off yet.

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