The Rudd Labor Government doesn't have a clue about small business, Queensland senator, Sue Boyce, said today.
Senator Boyce said Human Services Minister, Senator Joe Ludwig, had patronised small business owners by claiming they would find it difficult to work out how many full-time equivalent workers they have.
"Senator Ludwig said that small businesspeople would find it easier to "go into the staffroom" and take a headcount than work out how many fulltime equivalent staff they have.
"I've never heard such patronising garbage in my life directed at small business.”
In the Senate debate last night, Minister Ludwig said: "…employers will not be able to say, 'Jane, Bob, Joe—I have got full-time, part-time and systematic casuals in place. ' They will have to be able to work out what full-time equivalence will be".
"If Minister Ludwig meant what he said and wasn't just desperately trying to justify Ms Gillard's intransigence on unfair dismissal numbers he has demonstrated his profound ignorance of and contempt for small business," Senator Boyce said.
The Coalition sought to amend the Government's definition of a small business from Labor's headcount of 15 to 25 fulltime equivalent staff. After losing this vote, the Coalition supported an independent's amendment setting the limit at 20FTE.
“We’ve made this compromise despite the fact that the ABS and ATO define a small business as fewer than 20 FTE employees and that this definition is low compared to Europe, the US and Canada,” Senator Boyce said.
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