John Durie: Members express concern over ACTU communications, but COSBOA says issues have been addressed

Attempts by Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) chair Matthew Addison to take a high profile have failed to quell unrest within the small business lobby group, which is still split over the fall out from the Jobs Summit issues.

The concern from members centres on a lack of consultation and communication regarding the meeting with the ACTU.

The NSW Lotteries and Newsagents Association and the Independent Food Distributors Association are among the members which have expressed concern at the lack of consultation.

The Australian Meat Industry Council had also expressed concerns before a meeting last week.

Addison has taken the front seat in dealing with the media, with the usually accessible chief executive Alexi Boyd taking a low profile.

At the Jobs Summit, Boyd was front and centre sitting next to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the summit dinner and on his plane on the way to the conference.

COSBOA’s high profile presence is welcome so long as members are kept informed and supportive.

Addison said Boyd’s low profile was a deliberate policy to have comment from member associations with industrial relations expertise. These include the AMIC, the Pharmacy Guild and NSW Lotteries, he said.

Ironically enough, however, these associations were not involved in the ACTU talks.

COSBOA has come under attack from members of the traditional industrial relations club, like Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce, for the ACTU communications.

Perceived support was also grabbed by the federal government as supporting its position, and Boyd was given prominence at the Jobs Summit, which is seen by some as showing her position has led to political duchessing.

Addison also noted that no COSBOA board member or member has suggested to him that Boyd should step down.

This would be embarrassing for the government given it has trumpeted COSBOA’s support for the summit outcomes.

For her part, Boyd told SmartCompany she had kept a low profile since the Jobs Summit because she had been sick.

“The summit was a welcome exercise in that the government had a chance to put its position which is now clear, and that is welcome for small business,” she said.

She played down the concerns saying “no COSBOA member or board member had expressed any concerns to me”.

“The feedback I received before and after the summit was positive,” she added.

“Some members had expressed concerns about communications and these have been addressed and explained.”

The COSBOA board has a scheduled meeting on Thursday, at which it will consider, among other matters, a Statement of Intent on industrial relations. The document is to be workshopped before being released to members.

COSBOA is comprised of a range of different industry associations, some of which have different views and interest in industrial relations.

Opponents say Boyd’s mistake was to be seen to supporting the ACTU position without communicating or consulting members on the outcome.

However, Addison has argued the COSBOA position was misplayed in the media, even though COSBOA issued a media release on the topic.

This article was updated at 1.26pm on September 15, 2022. An earlier version of the article incorrectly stated that COSBOA met with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) prior to the Jobs Summit.