All News

After a year of much talk and many promises, it's good to see that there's been some action on these two important small business issues.

On illegal logging and timber importation, we were vocal in our criticism of the government's proposed legislation in September and October last year. It's good to see that the PM’s parliamentary secretary for deregulation (now Assistant Treasurer) Josh Frydenberg has given a commitment to fix the problems. More...

ICA's Ken Phillips has returned to the fray over the proposed illegal logging legislation—due to take effect in November—with a series of responses to the Minister responsible, Tasmanian Senator Colbeck. The laws, Ken says, will create criminals out of honest small business timber and timber products importers and are impossible to comply with. Small timber importers will come under a vicious bureaucratic attack that will force them into the clutches of a duopoly of big business interests. Ken's original article is here. His most recent response to the Minister is here. More...