Well, yes, rehctub.

>>Pericles, the whole point of this thread is to highlite the fac that the uptake, thats this stepping up to fill the void, has declined to the tune of a staggering 95%.<<

As I understand you, this means that for every 100 businesses that close down, only five start up, yes? I'm keen to see those actual numbers, if you happen to have them handy

Also, the conclusion you seem to have drawn is that IR laws are to blame - do you have any evidence for that too? There are many reasons why small businesses close; I'd be amazed if IR figured very high on the list, except as a convenient scapegoat.

Meanwhile, this might interest you - it is relatively recent, and has a couple of interesting observations to make.

http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/managing/blogs/the-venture/ability-to-fail-quickly-an-important-skill-20120806-23osz.html

"Australian entrepreneurs had the second-highest fear of failure, just behind the Republic Of Korea, in innovation-driven economies, the 2011 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) shows. Thankfully, Australia had the second-highest Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity, second only to the United States."

Sounds as though we are still pretty keen.

Here are some actual numbers, rehctub, being the figures for new business registrations, courtesy of ASIC, for the past three years.

2009: 146,654
2010: 159,982
2011: 167,454

And so far this year? 157,460

http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/2012-company-registration-statistics?openDocument

The important number from your point of view is of course the net new businesses. This can be found in the same set of stats, which show the "Total Number of Companies" in the accompanying chart.

This shows that the net increase in companies open for business has been steady each year:

2009-2010: 69,385 increase
2010-2011: 76,245 increase

And so far this year? an increase of 77,126 companies.

That indicates that there are twice as many new companies registering, as there are deregistering.

Of course, these are merely the raw numbers of registrations and deregistrations. For complete accuracy, there needs to be an additional layer of information that shows active businesses. But personally, I don't know where to find that detail.

Do you?

579.

Mining contributes 20% of GDP?
Actually it's about 10%.
It also provides about 240,000 jobs out of a national figure of 11,500,000. For comparison, the Real Estate industry employs about 200,000.
Except for the big bucks involved and the political influence it wields, the industry is not quite as vital as it may seem.

rehctub,

About 300,000 new businesses open every year and a similar number close.
That's why they don't show in in unemployment figure because the jobs are still there - they only move between businesses, just as they always have done and will continue to do in future.
Stating one half of the story is a bit alarmist, don't you think?

Pericles, I will try to find the link, but the info I used was revealed at a recent small business summit.

579, to accurately estimate the jobs mining creates, you must also accou t for the jobs created indirectly from the mining sector, from the camp caretaker, through to the engineering supplies.

The number would be quite staggering, in fact, many booming businesses would simply close without the input they receive from mining.

I work in a mining town, and what I have witnessed in the way of change, is mind blowing to say the least.

Of cause, as these businesses expand, they can't find staff as there's nowhere to live, unless of cause you want to use all your income for rent.

Sounds as though your alarmism is based on a state issue, and not AU as a whole. Abbott was trying to push the same line, but the stats are against you.

When a small business falters and closes it's the fault of the "MANAGEMENT" of the small business. They have NOT done their due diligence, thus their business becomes unviable.

This is the most BASIC facet of capitalism, and one I support 100%. Capitalism is about survival of the fittest and best .... if a company can't cut the mustard (for ANY reason whatsoever) it DESERVES to fail.

As figures presented late in this thread show .... the original "belief" by the original poster regarding small business is a load of rubbish. Small business in Australia is doing quite well indeed, and is heading towards the crest of a boom which will be upon us within several years time. I own and operate a small business, and know personally hundreds of small business owners ..... they are smiling and know the future is bright in Australia.

The knockers are invariably doing it because they see a political or ideological gain, and they SLANT their criticism so that it targets their ideological/political enemies. Most small business operators stay away from that sort of rubbish, because they know the "facts" and are too busy making damn sure they do the due diligence regarding the viability of their businesses. Good on them.