No one can survive on a few hours a week, so they must be registered as unemployed and receiving benefits. Like a lot of small business receive benefits.
You can't have full time unemployed and half time unemployed.
Some only want a few hours a week. with-out being registered.
Figure fudging would not work.
With more and more online shopping it will take its toll, strip shopping will probably disappear. It's just an adjustment of the times.
I have been an online banker for 17 years.
The goal posts will continue to move.

The goal posts will continue to move

Yes 579, they will, but then, so will our population.

So where do you propose the jobs will come from?

Mining is retracting, so too small business.

The likes of Ford, Qantas and NSW rail are all shedding staff.

Small retailers have been over powered by the big two, while governments have simply sat back and watched.

You can now buy cloths very cheap in places like K Mart, who by the way, are also owned by Coles.

Quite simply, without confidence, small business will not prosper and the consequences of that could be horrific.

Labor have stripped all confidence from small business, with their one size fits all IR failure.

I do not know how you can blame Labor for lack of confidence. The world is suffering from a lack of confidence.
The more population will mean more online shops. Business is going through change, as happens from time to time. GMH is putting in robots, for car assembly.
Change has happened since the cave man. We still all survive.
The world will always need iron ore.
Online shopping is a smash hit, you don't have to fight for a car park.
Shopping malls will continue to expand, and strip shopping will demise.
You can't go into small business and expect to make a fortune.
The public will decide where they go to shop. And it is far easier to do your shopping in the one place. Without having to shift your car.
Job vacancies and unemployment are in good shape.
Expected 5.75 % mid 2013

I've found that in my line of work, which can be described loosely as "Handyman" my colleague and I usually get the job ahed of big maintenance firms simply on price, for smaller jobs we're usually about 1/2 the price of the big outfits even though we are at the upper end of the price range ourselves. I think that's they key here, competition, my wife is in the same position, she does freelance project management work and short term contracts in the public infrastructure sector and she's taking work away from big firms or accepting their overflow when she's not busy. I think what I'm getting at is that is that small business is changing to a more ad-hoc or collaborative mode of operation where groups of sole traders or family firms will work together on a short term basis rather than the static, bricks and mortar model of the past. The set up costs of a tech heavy business such as my wife's are also insignificant, I think she's spent something like $4,000 on software, a second hand Mac, a smartphone and a decent printer, with Skype and E-mail she rarely has to leave the front room, whereas 20 years ago she'd have needed tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear and an office space to put it all in

While I tend to agree with you Jay, where does that leave us, as SB has always been our largest employer.

579, I do blame labor for loss in confidence, as it is they who took a big stick to IR which put a wall between employees and employers.

Many who were very happy with the previous arrangements can't grasp the fact that labor have come along and changed a perfectly good working arrangement.

I've seen it before, when labor took an axe to IR back in the early 90's, then, once JHoward won his second term, business regain confidence and business boomed.

It was no coincidence that confidence went south again once labor took their big stick approach to IR.

History has a way of repeating itself, but it's a long road back this time, as I doing small business will recover from this hit.

As far as shopping malls go, they will fail once the big two get gold lotto and the news agents fail.

Loose them, and we loose the centre.

Yeah Rechtub,
I prospered under Howard too but being a lover of peace I was a nervous wreck, the emotional damage that administration (in concert with One Nation) did to the nation wasn't worth the extra few dollars. It's actually funny to note the lack of real political biffo in an age when all candidates are viewed with utter contempt by the man on the street and the parties are universally awful, this should be a cause that'd get boots on the street but who is offering a way forward for the independant operator?.