News

PM and Albanese target SMEs as election nears

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Leader of the Opposition have outlined what they will do for small businesses if elected on 21 May.

5 May 2022

This week’s interest rate hike by the RBA has put pressure on both political parties to explain how they will ease rising costs for individuals and businesses.

On Thursday, 5 May, a number of media reports outlined how the Prime Minister will announce a new small business pledge, while Anthony Albanese will make his own pitch to industry leaders.

Mr Morrison said the Coalition would look to create 400,000 new small businesses during the next five years, should the government be re-elected.

The government also announced it would spend $17.9 million on the Business Energy Advice Program to help small businesses be more efficient, in an attempt to cut back on power bills.

Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese said the ALP’s will reduce emissions by 43% by 2030, create 604,000 new jobs, and reduce power prices by $275.

Have a workplace question?

Submit your query to one of our workplace representatives and receive a response within 48 hours.

ASK AN EXPERT NOW

Service exclusive to Premium Workplace subscribers. T&Cs apply.

Mr Albanese is due to address the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) this week.

Their respective pledges to the small business community come after new ABS data shows 57% of all businesses have had the cost of doing business increase more than usual in the last three months.

“As such, the overriding priority for the next federal government is to pull all the levers it can to address the supply side constraints that are driving up inflation and holding back the economy,” ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

“Until we see some of those external supply chain problems ease, until we get more workers coming back into the labour force, and until adjustments are made to monetary policy, inflationary pressures are likely to remain for some time.”