The Australian National Retailers Association has revealed that retailers in NSW are calling on the NSW Government to implement practical measures to help reduce business costs and support jobs during the economic downturn.
NSW retailers prepared a wish list at the Sydney jobs summit held on Friday, which outlined exactly how the government can help retailers escape the current economic situation.
Some of key issues raised included: full deregulation of trading hours, creating an external committee to tackle government taxes like payroll tax, and dedication of 15 per cent of the 175,000 traineeship places for the retail sector.
Margy Osmond, CEO of the ANRA, commented “while we appreciate that the government has made inroads in the planning, trading hours and business tax areas, there is more to be done to kick start a NSW recovery”.
Osmond also commented on the importance of the deregulation of trading hours, and bringing NSW up to the standards of ACT and Tasmania.
“The ACT, which has deregulated trading hours, is the most ideal arrangement. This constitutes a huge saving for the government from an administrative point of view,” said Osmond.
The ANRA also highlighted the importance of the dedication of 15 per cent of the newly announced traineeship places for the retail sector.
“Retail represents 15% of the Australian workforce and has a unique capacity to help young people into work. This has particular importance for rural and regional communities,” she said.
Some other important issues discussed at the summit included: creating a single contact point in the Premier’s office to facilitate retail investment in Australia, reducing red tape and NSW Government advocacy at the next COAG meeting on the negative impact of the recent retail award modernisation decision.