The Morrison government will require businesses with a turnover of more than $100m to pay their small contractors within 20 days if they have government contracts.
Scott Morrison used a speech to the Business Council of Australia on Wednesday night to outline the new procurement policy, and also flag an intention to persuade state governments to follow suit.
The prime minister said he would put small business payment times on the agenda for a meeting with the premiers in December. The Council of Australian Governments will convene in Adelaide on 12 December for a packed agenda, that will also include a discussion about population policy.
Morrison told business leaders the commonwealth currently paid invoices under $1m within 30 days “but we must do better”. Morrison said the government would, by July 2019, pay invoices under $1m within 20 days – a measure floated last year by Malcolm Turnbull.
He said cash flow was a critical issue for small business.
“All levels of government should set the standard and there should be no excuses for not paying small businesses on time,” Morrison said on Wednesday night.
“Small business are the backbone of our country and they need to get a fair go.”
Morrison said the government would work with business to develop a new annual reporting framework, where businesses with turnovers of more than $100m – about 3,000 companies – would be required to publish payment information on how they engage with small businesses.
The speech on Wednesday night is Morrison’s first major outing as prime minister with the BCA, and the group’s president, Grant King, is also expected to deliver an address.
Business groups have been impatient with the Coalition on a range of fronts, criticising the government for dropping big business tax cuts and abandoning the national energy guarantee after months of building up stakeholder support for the policy.
There is also widespread concern about the Coalition’s energy policy reboot, which includes divestiture powers to break up companies, and price regulation. There have also been concerns expressed about Morrison’s recent signal that the government will cut immigration as part of its population policy revamp.
