From the President DAVID BASHEER – AHA|SA PRESIDENT
COVID-19, Red Tape and Tax NEW GOVERNMENT The AHA|SA congratulates Peter Malinauskas and his team on securing a majority victory at the recent State election. The AHA|SA enjoys excellent relationships with the new Premier, along with key Ministers and advisors and we have already been requested to present a detailed policy agenda to the new Cabinet. Last year, and certainly during the election campaign, we strongly lobbied both sides of politics around restrictions, close contact rules and the mechanism used to make decisions. It was comforting to hear that the announcements made by the new Premier in his first week in office very much reflected those discussions. It Is appropriate to thank and acknowledge the efforts of the outgoing Liberal Government, and particularly Premier Steven Marshall. Whilst their period In office will be characterised largely
for Issues surrounding COVID-19, it should not be forgotten our industry won important concessions working with the then government around new gaming technologies, liquor Iicensing and tourism opportunities. The AHA|SA will always be a bipartisan industry organisation. The make-up of the Upper House demands we continue to work collaboratively with the Government, Opposition and key crossbenchers to protect the investments of our members whilst aspiring to future growth. STRANGLED BY RED TAPE Every incoming government, State and Federal, proclaims one of their key goals is to reduce red tape for small business. Every incoming government, State and Federal, then proceed to increase red tape for small business. The fundamental issue is government expects small and family businesses, with limited resources, to behave like big multi-
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nationals and in too many cases, become unpaid public servants. Endless forms to fill out - and you don’t want to be late when your work pressures and deadlines don’t match theirs. The recent visits many of our members enjoyed from the National Measurement Institute (yes, there is such a thing) during their week- long blitz of licensed premises was a case in point. Forget about the small fact we are taking the first tentative steps of finding our feet after two years of COVID-19 disruptions. Forget about the fact with close contact and isolation rules, that every pub in this State has endured extreme labour shortages. A failure to comply can lead to prosecution, with potential fines of more than $222,000 for each offence. That seems a fair and proportionate response as we grapple our daily work pressures… We are not saying we should be exempt from such inspection Back to Contents
