The year of the handout. Some people could replace their salary with the amount of money being given by the government this year. Don’t get me wrong, free cash is great if you can get it, but is this something that will actually help the economy?

I realise that the stimulus packages are ‘designed’ to get people to spend money in retail and keep that sector going, but what about some of Australia’s 1.8 Million small business who employ over 47% of the entire Australian workforce who represent 95% of ALL businesses? These people, myself included (so I am slightly biased here) are doing it just as tough as retailers, but are still slugged with payroll tax, superannuation guarantee contributions, workers compensation, and on top of that having to worry about generating new business. It’s a long way off before many actually turn a dollar for themselves!

Instead of partaking in a massive money throwing orgy, why not reduce the burden of payroll tax to the small business, and possibly throw them a SGC bonus for their employees? Pardon my sinnacle thoughts, but may it be that it not buy popularity in the voting polls? Any three year old can work out that giving money away to the public will generate some spending activity, but as we have seen over the past few months, people haven’t spent nearly enough.

If you don’t know if your job is secure, how likely is it that you will go out and buy a plasma or a new bike? That is why, if you benefit the employer in some way, they are less likely to lay off staff due to an ease in cashflow restrictions. People are put in power to think. The ideas expressed here may not be fool proof and solve anything, but at least it has more thought put into it than a second cash splash.

PD