The drought has hit farmers hard over many many years. The Howard Government this week announced hundreds of millions of dollars more in funding and assistance for farmers.
Horse flu breached the federal Government’s quarantine controls and shut down horse related events pretty much everywhere for more than a month. The Howard Government announced tens of millions of dollars in support.
In 1999 the Howard Government managed the deregulation of the distribution of newspapers and magazines in Australia – taking away a monopoly of newsagents protected and supported by the Government. Since deregulation the Government owned Australia Post has moved more into areas previously dominated by newsagents. Newsagents, without the protection of monopoly in any category, are losing market share. The Government has offered no compensation.
I guess the thousands of families which own newsagencies and those who earn an income through newsagencies don’t matter as much as the farmers or racing folk.
In the case of newsagents there is clearly little political value in supporting small business so the Government facilitated the whack in 1999 and the death of a thousand cuts by allowing Australia Post to use its monopoly protected brand to grab sales from newsagents – for the benefit of the Government.
Labour, Liberal, National Party, Democrats, Green and Family First candidates need to do more than provide lip service on small business policy. Newsagents are not looking for charity – just a fair shake from a government that spends a lot of money telling us all how much they care.
You got right again Mark, even Maggie Thatcher and john Major in their pursuit of free markets kicked us UK newsagents where it hurts by regulatory change. It blew the thousands out of business and delivered a market dominated to supermarkets.
As independent business people who have contact with hundreds of people everyday, many of whom trust us, because they do use us regularly, we do have an oportunity to say it as we see it and at election time campaign on our platform to effect the changes we want to see.
I don’t thimk any of us realise our power, but we do have that power to make politicos begin to listen.
Steve