Retailers welcome JobKeeper certainty, but business conditions remain grim

The National Retail Association (NRA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s extension of the JobKeeper subsidy until March 2021, but...

The National Retail Association (NRA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s extension of the JobKeeper subsidy until March 2021, but warned that the economic climate remains hostile for many businesses. The Prime Minister announced today that once the current JobKeeper rate expires in September, the scheme will continue at a lowered...

Read More

Peak industry associations join forces in bank take down

Five of Australia’s leading retail industry associations have called on banks to be more proactive in educating their business...

Five of Australia’s leading retail industry associations have called on banks to be more proactive in educating their business customers on least-cost routing and making it easier to access the huge savings to be achieved by it. COSBOA, the Australian Retailers Association, National Retail Association, Master Grocers Australia and the...

Read More

Message from the CEO – 9 April 2019

Retail was a big winner in last week’s Federal Budget. Following sluggish sales figures in successive ABS retail trade reports...

Retail was a big winner in last week’s Federal Budget. Following sluggish sales figures in successive ABS retail trade reports it was imperative that measures were put forward to restore consumer confidence. The NRA was therefore very pleased that the Government has pledged to double the low and middle income...

Read More

Message from the CEO, Dominique Lamb: 15 May 2018

The annual post-budget reporting doesn’t seem to change from year to year – the big winners and big losers,...

The annual post-budget reporting doesn’t seem to change from year to year – the big winners and big losers, what’s in it for you, who thinks it’s magnificent, and who thinks it’s a load of garbage. However, the Budget itself is always different from ones gone before it, including this...

Read More

South Australia’s small business budget

According to a statement released by Small Business, Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith, operators and employees in South...

According to a statement released by Small Business, Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith, operators and employees in South Australia’s Small to Medium Business sector play a key role in transforming the local economy and the sector is a big winner in the 2017-18 State Budget handed down on...

Read More

Message from the CEO: 16 May 2017

We had high hopes for this year’s Federal Budget, delivered in the midst of major challenges to the retail...

We had high hopes for this year’s Federal Budget, delivered in the midst of major challenges to the retail landscape, including weaker retail sales over three of the past four quarters, and an ever-increasing influx of overseas competitors. Despite it following the tough medicine approach of 2014 that sent shockwaves...

Read More

Message from the CEO: 9 May 2017

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) again kept interest rates on hold at an historic low of 1.5 per...

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) again kept interest rates on hold at an historic low of 1.5 per cent last week. The RBA Governor, Phillip Lowe, confirmed that inflation was beginning to move in line with expectations, meaning that spending is gradually picking up throughout the economy. This resulted...

Read More

Message from the CEO: 23 May 2016

Taxation, employment, economic stability – they’re terms that get thrown about a great deal during a federal election campaign....

Taxation, employment, economic stability – they’re terms that get thrown about a great deal during a federal election campaign. But while they aren’t the most exciting concepts for the average voter, their long-term effects for retailers are profound. The GST Low Value Threshold (LVT) on imports under $1000 for example,...

Read More

Federal Budget lends helping hand to SME’s

On May 3, 2016, Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison MP handed down the Federal Government’s 2016/17 Budget. This is the third...

On May 3, 2016, Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison MP handed down the Federal Government’s 2016/17 Budget. This is the third budget for the current Coalition Liberal-National Government and the first for Scott Morrison. This budget is critical to the formation of the economic plan that will be taken to the...

Read More

2016-2017 Federal Budget in depth

Last Tuesday the Federal Government handed down the 2016-2017 budget. With a strong focus on the future and providing help...

Last Tuesday the Federal Government handed down the 2016-2017 budget. With a strong focus on the future and providing help for small and medium enterprises, the government has committed to reducing the company tax rate over the next decade. The small business threshold will be raised from $2 million to $10...

Read More

Message from the CEO: 3 May 2016

Tonight, we will know the details of the 2016 Federal Budget, as Treasurer Scott Morrison hands down his first...

Tonight, we will know the details of the 2016 Federal Budget, as Treasurer Scott Morrison hands down his first budget. Given the current mixed retail environment, we have been urging the Federal Government, in the lead up to the delivery of its third budget, to provide as much certainty and...

Read More

Message from the CEO: 26 April 2016

As the Chairman mentioned in last week’s message, we have farewelled CEO Trevor Evans, who has been preselected to...

As the Chairman mentioned in last week’s message, we have farewelled CEO Trevor Evans, who has been preselected to contest a seat at the Federal Election on July 2nd. While the National Retail Association is strictly a non-partisan organisation, we do wish Trevor every success. It is important that...

Read More

Message from the CEO: 12 February 2016

It’s been a week of distractions in business and politics, from the instability of global stock markets to the...

It’s been a week of distractions in business and politics, from the instability of global stock markets to the decision of the Federal Government to abandon the idea of increasing the GST, to a looming Ministerial reshuffle. These are factors that can dent consumer confidence, which has otherwise been improving,...

Read More