News Briefs
April 2006

Sandra had nearly 7 years at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery and was a teacher at TAFE NSW on 3 different regional campuses. She holds a Diploma in Visual Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Art History and Curatorship.

Sandra will be responsible for the Gallery and Museum Exhibition spaces and collections. The Dubbo Cultural Centre is set to be a leading cultural facility for the region and will enhance and enrich the quality of life of the community.

For information about what’s on offer at the new Cultural Centre please contact Sandra at the Gallery on (02) 6801 4431 or gallery@dubbo.nsw.gov.au

AUSTRALIAN FARMERS SUPPORT WHEAT SINGLE DESK

NSW Nationals Senator Sandy Macdonald said there was overwhelming support to retain a wheat single desk by Australian wheat farmers.

“After two rallies held in Warracknabeal, Victoria and Parkes in NSW, farmers have come out in force to voice their concerns over changes to wheat marketing arrangements,” Senator Macdonald said.

“The Nationals in Government will do everything they can to support the best interests of Australian wheat growers,” he said.

“I also congratulate Leader of The Nationals and Trade Minister Mark Vaile for securing trade access for Australian wheat into Iraq.”

Senator Macdonald said that the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Dr Ahmad Chalabi, has now confirmed that Iraq is looking to buy up to 350,000 tonnes of wheat from Australia as part of a purchase that Iraq is currently negotiating with overseas suppliers.

AWB International has indicated to the Government that it will not seek to exercise its right of veto on this Iraq tender and it is willing to provide access for Australian-owned grain trading companies to wheat from the National Pool.

“This highlights the importance of Minister Vaile's visit to Iraq and the outcomes that have been achieved by one of Australia's best Trade Ministers,” Senator Macdonald said.

NEW AMMO FOR BELL'S EXPRESSWAY

The group pushing for a new $2billion, four-lane expressway across the Blue Mountains, generally following the Bell's Line of Road, has gained further ammunition to aim at opponents.

A report commissioned by politically bipartisan Bells Line Expressway Group (BLEG) and prepared by the Western Research Institute at Bathurst's Charles Sturt University lends strong support to the project.

BLEG chairman, Ian Armstrong, the Member for Lachlan, says the report warns Sydney risks choking to death before the middle of this century unless urgent steps are taken to relieve the pressure of over-population.

Author of the report, Tom Murphy, has found the new expressway would bring major benefits to both Western Sydney and the Central West region.

He has recommended that Federal and State Governments, who have opposed the project to date, support the construction of a new expressway with the option of:

• Including the Bells Line Expressway in the Auslink network, with the provision of funding for the road as a project of strategic regional importance.

• Designating the expressway as a road of national importance under the Federal Government's national highways program.

• Reservation of the expressway corridor as a designated route in all relevant plans at the national, state and local government levels.

Welcoming the report, Mr Armstrong said the new expressway would 'take the cork out of the Sydney basin and relieve the pressure on the city's west, in particular by allowing additional population, business and industrial growth to flow across the Blue Mountains to the rich ands fertile lands in the Central West'.

"A new Bell's Line Expressway which is strongly supported by local government in the Central West, including Mid-Western Regional Council, would link up with the M7 near Quakers Hill and head up over the mountain, joining the Great Western Highway near the Mudgee turnoff.

"It's an exciting project that has won wide support, including from the NRMA. Every report we have commissioned so far is strongly in favour," Mr Armstrong said.

The Country Labor Member for Bathurst, Gerard Martin, who is a member of BLEG, said the new report demonstrated conclusively that the new a new expressway would provide substantial benefits for both Sydney's west and the Central West.

SMALL BUSINESS REGULATION REVIEW

Early this year the Premier announced a renewed focus on regulatory reform in New South Wales, including a review of small business regulation.

The Government recognises that the impact of business regulation may fall disproportionately on small firms which might not have the resources of large business to comply with business regulatory requirements. The Government is also aware that business regulation has the unintended potential to erect barriers to entry that in turn impact the competitive environment, to the detriment of the broader community.

To address these issues, the Minister for Small Business has established a Small Business Regulation Review Taskforce (the Taskforce). The role of the Taskforce is to assess regulations that impact small firms and recommend actions that will make compliance with regulations by small business operators simpler.  This is expected to yield savings to business and assist them to improve their compliance with regulation.

Recognising the diversity of the small business sector, the Taskforce will conduct a rolling program of reviews on a sector-by-sector basis.  In conducting these reviews the Taskforce will examine:

1. regulatory controls that impose administrative burdens on small business and create unintended consequences, particularly for small firms in the start-up or business expansion stage;
2. opportunities for agencies and businesses to apply technology to reduce the administrative burden on small firms;
3. any overlapping, duplicative or inconsistent requirements created by various legislative requirements;
4. domestic and international best practice approaches that could be applied in New South Wales;  and
5. recommend mechanisms that Government should consider adopting to manage administrative burdens from regulations imposed on small firms.

The Taskforce will not analyse rates of fees and charges payable by business, but it may examine matters relating to compliance costs with such obligations by small firms.

The Taskforce will:

• develop a small business regulation review methodology;
• identify and recommend small business priority sectors to be reviewed;
• recommend a timeline for review of these small business priority sectors;
• consult widely to ensure that the views of industry participants are heard and may call for submissions from industry representatives and participants;
• endeavour to estimate the cost of compliance on small firms of various regulations;  and
• co-operate with other jurisdictions in its consideration of business regulatory issues and will take into account work being done by them.

PROTECT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Small business should ensure their intellectual property is safely secured or risk putting their livelihoods at risk, the Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey has urged.

A recent survey of over 260 recent businesses conducted by the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property and IP Australia revealed many small businesses are unaware that their business names do not provide the protection of a trade mark.

Key results of the survey:

• 80% of businesses surveyed incorrectly believed registering a business name also provides trade mark protection;
• 50% of businesses were unaware that the same business name can be registered in different states; and
• 85% of respondents incorrectly believed business name registration stops other businesses from using the same name.

Unlike a business name, a trade mark is an exclusive, personal property right that provides protection throughout Australia. Infringement of an existing trade mark can potentially have serious consequences for business, such as legal bills or simply being forced to change stationary and signage. One potential solution is for small businesses to also register their business name as a trade mark.

“The intellectual property of a small business, from its new ideas to how it makes products, is worth big dollars to operators. So it is well worthwhile small business investing a bit of time in investigating this issue now, to avoid getting caught in any future intellectual property tangle,” Fran Bailey said.

“I would urge all interested small business operators to visit www.ipaustralia.gov.au/smartstart , a dedicated website on intellectual property issues for business. The website tries to simply and plainly explain this important issue. If necessary, professional advice should be sought to ensure the livelihoods of small businesses are protected.”

New NSW Cabinet

NSW Premier Morris lemma announced a new Cabinet line early this year with a strong focus on driving the NSW economy and creating jobs and investment.

"It's clear to me we need to work harder to attract investment and encourage business confidence," Mr lemma said.

"NSW is open for business. That's why I am personally taking responsibility for State Development.

"And that's why the new Cabinet line up reflects the Government's determination to generate jobs, investment and growth.

"The new line-up adds depth to the economic team in Cabinet adding Ministerial responsibility for Regulatory Reform, as part of my commitment to making it easier to do business in NSW.

"It also ensures senior experienced ministers such as John Watkins, Carl Scully, Carmel Tebbutt and John Hatzistergos will continue to focus on Transport, Policing, Education and Health - our priority services.

"I have allocated Cabinet responsibilities to focus on my team's individual strengths."

The Cabinet appointments are:

• Morris lemma - Premier, State Development, Citizenship;

• Michael Costa - Treasurer, Infrastructure, Hunter;

• John Della Bosca - Finance, Commerce, Industrial Relations, Ageing, Disability Services;

• Eric Roozendaal - Roads;

• Joe Tripodi - Energy, Ports, Minister assisting the Treasurer on Business and Economic Regulatory Reform;

• David Campbell - Water Utilities, Small Business, Regional Development, Illawarra.

The remaining portfolio responsibilities remain unchanged.

Mr lemma said the NSW Government is committed to pursuing an aggressive agenda for economic growth.

"My Cabinet team has the experience and skills to deliver that agenda and secure the state's economic prosperity," Mr lemma said.

NEW ENGLAND GETS CONNECTED

Residents in New England got access to subsidised broadband services through the Australian Government's Broadband Connect Scheme in February.

"Broadband Connect is the Coalition's $878 million program to provide subsidised broadband services to residents in rural and regional Australia. This program is an initiative of the $1.1 billion Connect Australia package, negotiated by The Nationals," said NSW Senator Sandy Macdonald.

"Nearly forty registered providers will provide the subsidised service for both ADSL and satellite broadband," he said.

Telstra has registered to provide ADSL services, while NewSat, BorderNet, Dragnet Internet Services, Optus, SkyOptic, OneWire, Australian Private Networks and Be Communications, and HaleNET have registered to provide satellite broadband which means wireless and cable internet to areas including Tenterfield.

Senator Macdonald said broadband internet customers benefiting from the HiBIS scheme will continue to be provided with a service for the life of their contract.

“The HiBIS scheme was immensely popular in this region and the Australian Government is keen to see the further roll-out of broadband services in rural and regional Australia,” he said.

Stage One of Broadband Connect involves only minor modifications to the model used for HiBIS and ensures that customers wanting access to a subsidised broadband service can get connected immediately. Stage 2 is expected to be operational in July following an extensive consultation process that is currently underway.