Page 5063 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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improve it—by making businesses wait 50 per cent longer and then by changing the number it is suddenly going to make it right—is just illogical. I just do not understand how Mr Smyth sees this operating and how he cannot see that it is to the detriment of many businesses that would have to wait 50 per cent longer to get paid. It is a nonsense.
Ms Le Couteur’s amendment is very sensible and says, yes, there is a concern about the late payment and there are a percentage that obviously should not have had to wait for their payment. She has then put down quite clearly how we can track and scrutinise what is happening. The rule at the moment is that if it is an invoice that has been put in for 30 days, it should be paid within that 30 days, unless, of course, there is a legitimate dispute.
But, as Mr Barr also pointed out, it depends on what is being paid for; it depends on the invoice. Some invoices are for seven days, some are for 14 days. This idea that the Liberal Party is putting forward—“Small business, don’t you worry; we’ll get the government to pay your invoices in 44 days”—I just do not get. I do not understand it, and I cannot see how this is a good outcome for small business. It is a very hard one to follow.
This motion raises a number of issues. No-one here doubts the importance of prompt payment to small business. Of course it is vital for businesses, particularly small businesses with more limited cash flow, to have their invoices paid as soon as possible. The Greens have significant amendments to the motion, but, on the broader question of the issue of the payment of invoices by the government, we need to be vigilant to ensure that we are consistently pushing the envelope and trying to better help those businesses to provide goods and services to government.
The ACT government is, of course, a very important participant in our local economy. For a number of small businesses it is a very large part of their customer base. As I have said on many occasions, we need to be aware of how government spending can be used to assist the local economy and achieve a range of outcomes beyond just the procurement of goods and services to fulfil government functions. This, of course, is particularly relevant in assisting social enterprises. We have discussed this issue at length in a motion that I proposed and that was passed by the Assembly a few months ago. More generally, the government is vital for a number of small businesses, particularly local businesses, that provide employment to so many Canberrans.
I will go to the issue of community services briefly. Recent incidents have revealed that there have been problems in the payment of some invoices within the directorate. A primary example of this problem is considered in the Public Advocate’s report. I do not propose to re-litigate that issue here today; suffice to say that the failure of CSD to pay the invoices in question in that incident made life very difficult for the organisation concerned. I am pleased that, as I understand it—I have been contacted by the organisation involved—the matter has been resolved and the outstanding amounts paid.
I am concerned about the systems in place to prevent these types of incidents where amounts are disputed and a protracted dispute follows. It is important to ensure that,
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