Small Business

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. What is the survival rate of small business in South Australia compared to that of other states?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:08): I thank the member for Elder for her question. Small businesses are the foundation of South Australia's economy and they are a driving force for employment and growth. There are over 140,000 small businesses in the state, defined as those employing less than 20 people.

Small business account for a significant share of jobs, estimated at approximately one-third of the state's workforce. According to ABS statistics, 65 per cent of small businesses operating in South Australia in June 2011 survived to June 2015. This is the highest survival rate of all mainland states in Australia, where the national average is 61.9 per cent. South Australia also has the highest survival rate of all the mainland states for start-up businesses, at 53 per cent, compared to a national average of 50 per cent.

According to the KPMG 2016 Competitive Alternatives report, South Australia ranks as having the most cost competitive business environment of the six cities surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region, including four Australian cities. This analysis takes into account a broad range of business costs including labour, facility, transportation and utility costs, as well as taxes. There are significant changes occurring in the South Australian economy. Investment in new industries and businesses to create jobs is of critical importance to the state economy.

We are committed to making South Australia the best place to do business. To that end, we are abolishing taxes that constrain business investment and expansion. Over the next decade, these tax changes will return almost $2.5 billion to businesses and the community and result in significant savings for our state’s small businesses. The government has abolished stamp duty on non-real property transactions, such as transfers of licences and business purchases; has abolished share duty on transfers of non-listed shares; is phasing out stamp duties on transfers of non-residential property in July 2018; and is continuing payroll tax relief for small business to 2019.

The new return-to-work scheme, the most significant reform to WorkCover in a generation, is expected to deliver savings to business of around $180 million each year, improving our state’s competitiveness and stimulating business investment and jobs growth. I know firsthand from our small business round table how pleased those associations are with the fact that their members are now looking at WorkCover levy rates with a one in front of it, where some, a short time ago, they had a three in front of it. It is an extraordinary reform which has perplexed this parliament for decades and which both parties tried to achieve, and only this government got the job done.

A $10 million small business development fund has also been established to help small businesses in northern Adelaide start up to grow and create sustainable jobs, and I will be having more to say about that tomorrow. Can I say, having been a small business proprietor, that it is never easy, but on these measures South Australian businesses are doing it better than other states, and that is a testament to their resilience, to their determination and to the businesses they are running.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call to order the deputy leader, members for Hammond, Chaffey, Goyder and Schubert; and I warn for the first time the deputy leader and the member for Goyder. Leader.