Small Business

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Is red tape killing South Australian small business? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TELFER: The South Australian Business Chamber's quarterly Survey of Business Expectations found that the impact of government regulations went from the fifth biggest issue to the third in the last 12 months. One respondent said they believed more small and medium businesses would decide it was not worth running a business in South Australia with the amount of red tape.

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (15:09): I want to thank the member for the question. I am aware of the Business Chamber's recent report, where there has been a slight increase in the confidence of South Australian business owners in that quarter. We are certainly seeing increases in the time taken to undertake some regulatory compliance. Of course, that is always a balance. I understand that some of the comments related to some of the federal government's initiatives which, of course, are being balanced.

We are offering significant support to small business. We have a $14 million Small Business Strategy. We have an economy that is going incredibly well in South Australia, leading the nation either first or second on most metrics, and we can see from the Business Chamber's recent report that the increase in confidence is certainly something that we should be very proud of our small business sector.

We are a small business state. We are certainly as a government supporting small businesses. We have had over 6,000 businesses engage in some level of support through our Small Business Strategy. So to see that confidence is certainly moving in a positive direction. Our economy is strong and is supporting our small businesses to expand and to export. We are certainly doing a lot in that space, including with the Minister for Trade and Investment. We have certainly seen improvements in South Australia in the last two years.