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Phil Wicks: Small Business New Zealand Founder on National's small business plan · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZB. Follow this
• 0:13
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• 0:17
  Speaker 1: so National's got a 47-point plan to cut red tape
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  Speaker 1: for small business. Here's the minister in charge, Cameron Brewer.
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  Speaker 1: We will also review the GST registration threshold. It has
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  Speaker 1: been stuck at 60,000 since 2009. It wants to introduce
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  Speaker 1: a Tell Government Once service. They want to speed up
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  Speaker 1: stuff around employment. They want simpler health and safety rules
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  Speaker 1: as well. Phil Wicks is the Small Business New Zealand founder,
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  Speaker 1: director of BSB Advisory, and joins me now. G'day, Phil.
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  Speaker 2: G'day. How are you going? Good.
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  Speaker 1: Have you read it? Do you like it?
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  Speaker 2: I think there's quite a lot here that small business
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  Speaker 2: owners will recognise. I mean, the 47 points sounds like
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  Speaker 2: a lot, but the themes are generally pretty simple, make
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  Speaker 2: it easier to employ people. reduce the time owners spend
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  Speaker 2: dealing with government-approved cash flow and make it easier for
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  Speaker 2: businesses to invest and grow. So, you know, overall fairly straightforward,
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  Speaker 2: I think.
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  Speaker 1: How much of it was stuff we already do?
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  Speaker 2: Quite a bit, in all honesty. I mean, but, you know,
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  Speaker 2: anything that can sort of take away those areas of friction,
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  Speaker 2: give small business owners a bit more certainty. is a
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  Speaker 2: good thing. You know, most small businesses, what they're really after,
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  Speaker 2: small business owners, sorry, is confidence and, you know, confidence
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  Speaker 2: to employ another person or invest in another piece of equipment.
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  Speaker 1: OK, well, Cameron Brewer says, and he says of the
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  Speaker 1: 47 points, the big hold up for small businesses are
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  Speaker 1: all the employment rules. And he wants to simplify them.
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  Speaker 1: And he's talking about the Employment Relations Authority and he's
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  Speaker 1: talking about the whole employment disputes process. How can you
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  Speaker 1: simplify that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I guess the issue isn't about removing anybody's rights.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's relatively straightforward. Sorry, it's when a relatively
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  Speaker 2: straightforward disagreement becomes enormously expensive or time-consuming for both sides.
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  Speaker 2: Those sort of things can be simplified. It's good if
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  Speaker 2: you can resolve smaller disputes faster and proportionately. I think
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  Speaker 2: it's also good for that sole trader who's taking on
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  Speaker 2: the first employee. There's a huge step there. Suddenly you've
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  Speaker 2: got employment agreements, payroll, leave, ACC, and those sorts of things.
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  Speaker 2: So anything that can simplify that, I think, is a
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  Speaker 2: good thing.
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  Speaker 1: And how do you feel about that $ 60, 000 GST threshold?
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  Speaker 1: Should it be higher?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've said this before. I think last time I talked, yes,
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  Speaker 2: I think it should be. I mean, Australia, I think
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  Speaker 2: it's around $ 90, 000. And it's been 60,000, I think, since 2009. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think it should be higher. I've thought
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  Speaker 2: about that for a while.
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  Speaker 1: Well, what's your reasoning behind that?
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  Speaker 2: Because, you know, again, the majority of small businesses that
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  Speaker 2: start up or a fair proportion will fail. And anything
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  Speaker 2: that can actually make that process a little bit easier– And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when 60,000, when you think about that's turnover,
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  Speaker 2: that's not profit. So it's not a heck of a
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  Speaker 2: lot when you think of it that way.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Phil, I thank you for your time today.
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  Speaker 1: Phil Wicks, the Small Business New Zealand founder. He's also
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  Speaker 1: a director of BSB Advisory.