RCCIWA Stakeholder & Member Engagement May
During each month we meet with many stakeholders and are in contact with as many members directly as possible in order to ensure we are genuinely engaged and are able to be a strong conduit for information, opportunities and of course for ensuring the voice of regional business in WA in always heard. Below is a brief overview of some of the stakeholder and member engagement for May.

• Met with the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science & Innovation on two occasions to discuss the progress of WA  Industry Link and also to receive an update on the regional Local Content Advisors and how RCCIWA can support these two initiatives to ensure local businesses are given every opportunity to bid successfully when State Government work is open for tender.
• Hosted a teleconference with our members with the Hon Terry Redman MLA to discuss the proposed New Employer Incentive Scheme, to get feedback and information from members and understand their views on the proposed scheme.
• Attended CCIWA’s State Budget Breakfast event – this was an impressive event, really well organised by CCIWA, with 650 people in attendance. Some good news for regional businesses and well as for regional communities, however no move on the payroll tax threshold. We will continue our call for this to be raised.
• Travelled to Newman for their Annual Business Excellence Awards, which were just outstanding. It was also a great opportunity to spend time with their committee and Manager, Tania Tucker -  as well as catch up with Mr Kevin Michel MLA, The Member for the  Pilbara and the Minister for Mines and Petroleum, the Hon Bill Johnson MLA who was also in attendance.
• Held RCCIWA Executive Committee Meeting, monthly RCCIWA Members Meeting, CEP Program Co-ordinators Meeting and Working Together Co-ordinators meeting, all via teleconference
• Met with DTWD to discuss the extension of the Working Together program to June 30, 2020 and meet the new team who RCCIWA will be working with as WT Program Manager. Signed to agreement extension.
• Met with the Hon Liza Harvey MLA, at her request to share with her the views and strong concerns of all regional country taxi operators in relation to the legislative changes coming for their industry and the fact that regional taxi operators are not eligible for the same cash buy back offer from the State Government as metropolitan plates are.

RCCIWA Members Forum Update – June 13^th and 14^th 2019
RCCIWA members would have received their invitation in their inbox to the June RCCIWA Members Forum being held in Perth in just one week!! We are really looking forward to the Forum and have two days full of valuable information, advocacy opportunities and excellent networking. For our members and their representatives wishing to book their attendance please go to Trybooking.

Below is what we have planned:
Thursday June 13th – Parliament House – 8.15am to 2.30pm – Advocacy Day
A privileged opportunity to meet in Parliament House, where Members of Parliament, including key Ministers and Party Leaders will spend quality time with us talking openly about the issues and topics that are of concern or priority for your town or region. A big thanks to our host for the day,  the Hon Paul Papalia CSC MLA. We have confirmation that Minister MacTiernan Treasurer Wyatt, Minister Cook, the Hon Liza Harvey, Libby Mettam and the Hon Mia Davies will be coming along to speak with us along with Minister Papalia, with is great news.

 

Thursday June 13th – NAB, Perth –  5.30pm to 7.30pm – Business After Hours
Generously hosted by NAB and showcasing beautiful produce and beverages from regional WA, the Business after Hours will see a gathering of RCCIWA members from all over regional WA as well as stakeholders and regional supporters. A great opportunity to network, connect and catch up. A reminder to all of you that RSVP’s are essential.

Friday June 14th – The Mercure Hotel Perth – 8.30am to 3.30pm – Operational Day
With a focus on events, activities, challenges and opportunities for all of our members, this day will comprise of workshops, speakers and presentations by members. Topics such as revenue streams, place activation, communication methods and building a sustainable Chamber are some of the topics to be covered. This is a day of incredible value for our members as it gives you ideas to learn from (or steal), share what your Chamber is up to, strengthen you regional Chamber network and also understand that you have a vast regional network of supporters available. We are pleased to inform you that we have secured Dean Cracknell, the CEO of the Town Teams Movement to come along and talk about place and retail activation and the role our members have to play in this.

Video Conferencing
For our members who are unable to attend the Forum in person, we will be offering video conferencing for sessions on Day Two. We will be sending you the confirmed program next week – so if there are any sessions you would like to join us for, please get in touch with Emmi at admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au and she will assist in making this happen.

Final Call for Registration
Please note that if you are planning on attending, yet have not registered, we ask that you to let us know asap Today please!). If you are unable to register via the link, please contact Emmi directly at admin@regionalchamberswa.com.au and she will be more than happy to help.

RCCIWA Advocacy – we would love your feedback
We always strive to represent and advocate on behalf of our collective membership to ensure the voice of regional business in WA is heard. We do this in a variety of ways and are able to do this effectively because of how engaged our members are. Thank you. Having direct feedback and examples from our members as to how decisions, rules and polices are affecting their members means that we can provide genuine, relevant information that we hope can be used to form better decisions to effect positive outcomes. Some of the priority issues we are currently working on are:

• Water Corporation – Fixed Water Services Charges
  We have been contacted by several accommodation businesses in different parts of WA, that are struggling with the fixed water services charges (not usage) that are not at all reflective of occupancy. We are talking about the fixed charges each accommodation business pays for each toilet that they have connected, regardless of occupancy, and we have heard from some businesses that their water bill at some times of the year is over 10% of their income. The only way those businesses can reduce these fixed charges is to have the toilets disconnected, which is not practical. We are currently working on this and will be in touch with all of our members to get more information, but if you do have any feedback regarding this please get in touch via email.
• Support for Retailers in regards to antisocial behaviour
  We have been contacted by several members in regard to how we can support retailers more in the regions, particularly in regard to antisocial behaviour. At a time when retailers are facing challenges on many fronts, the lack of consequences for individuals who steal, vandalise and generally behave outside of the law is seen as a big contributor to the escalation in this unacceptable behaviour. We know that all regional towns and communities are working really hard to attract new retailers and also ensure that current retailers don’t close down. We are working on gathering more information which we are hoping to present and discuss at our meeting at Parliament House on June 13^th. What we will be calling for is more consequences for the offenders, so there are true deterrents to this behaviour. Please get in touch if you have anything to add on this issue.
• Regional Taxi Businesses – not eligible for cash buy back
  The voluntary taxi plate buy back scheme that the State Government is currently offering of up to $100,000 per license, is only for metropolitan taxi plate owners. There is a $10,000 payment for each plate for regional taxi operators that was announced in the recent state budget, however the regional taxi operators are concerned that their businesses will no longer be viable and as a result of this critical community services will not be delivered. We understand the Department of Transports rationale behind their decision and are aware they are currently looking at other ways they may be able to support regional taxi businesses. We would like to find out more about how this decision is affecting regional taxi businesses and work together on ways we may be able to assist. If you have any comments or information from regional taxi businesses that could assist us with working on a mutually agreeable outcome please email me.