Bruce Billson, the Opposition spokesperson for small business, has said that he was concerned regarding the role of the small business commissioner Mark Brennan from now on in. His remarks come in the wake of a statement by a department official during this week's Senate Estimates that the program would not continue for long.

StartupSmart quotes an official for the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, Sue Weston, saying that funds for the role have only been assigned till 2015-16 and the existing funding was just correct for the period the program has been fixed.

When questioned by Liberal Senator Scott Rayan, Sue explained that the role was 'not a continuing program'.

Talking to StartupSmart, Bruce Billson said that he was worried as well as amazed to learn that the role of the small business commissioner was short-lived and not a continuing one.

According to Billson, while the ruling Labor has already made much on this particular aspect, now they say that the role of the commissioner is not an ongoing one. This only reflects the fact that the government is simply not bothered about small business.

In fact, another report says that while the incumbent Chris Bowen is the fourth small business minister in just 14 months, especially coming at a juncture when the both government as well as the small business community actually require stability in small business. On the contrary, Liberal Party's Bruce has been the shadow minister for small business since 2007.

In fact, earlier Billson had expressed concern over the musical chair game played by the Labor government vis-à-vis the small business portfolio as well as the commissioner having no legislative powers. While the Christ Bowen assumed responsibility just four months back, the present commissioner Mark Brennan is serving in his present capacity since January 2013

Stating that the small business requires a genuine commitment, Bruce said that the problems as well as challenges confronted by this sector are not only diverse, but significant too. He emphasized on the need for a continuing engagement and undertaking initiatives that were necessary for pinpoint effective polices.

An e-mail sent by Gary Gray, a spokesman for Christ Bowen, to StartupSmart said that the post of the small business commissioner is normally reviewed once in two years and, hence, it is important that Brenman is given ample time to form the policies and make sure that the Commonwealth agencies remain focused on small business.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Small Business Council of Australia, Peter Strong hoped that the role of the commissioner will be appraised in 2015-16 and there would be disbursement of fresh funds provided the findings favored an ongoing program. He told StartupSmart that it is difficult to envisage that the review would not be positive recommending more powers to the commissioner, besides defining his role better. In order to achieve his objectives, it is essential that the commissioner is vested with legislative powers.

It may be noted that the government announced the role of the commissioner in March 2012 with a view to promote small business and help small business owners to approach as well as deal with the challenges faced by them.