Small businesses are the driving force of our economy. They deserve a fair go.

“To keep people in jobs and create more jobs, we need small businesses "as they are the majority of private sector employers" to succeed and become sustainable; so it just makes plain sense to support small businesses. Another way to support small businesses is for federal, state, local government to implement policies to procure the services of small businesses which will not only benefit them but the government, local communities and give real opportunities for small businesses to succeed and grow.”

George - VIC, Australia

“I am a small business owner who closed a retail homewares store. Essentially our wholesale suppliers launched online stores selling products almost at the same price we were buying product from them- how could we compete. Then those same wholesalers opened retail stores selling product at almost wholesale prices and held back popular products for their stores only, preventing us from selling “hot” items. Other wholesalers would make us buy introductory packs of new products and then advertise that those products as “on sale” forcing us to reduce prices in store this minimising or even eliminating any chance of making money. Our retirement as business owners depends on our business. It is not an equal playing field out there. Small business is the heart of a community. We know who is getting married, we know who is sick or doing it tough. We connect snd look after our customers. We donate to small charities snd sports groups. Please help keep small businesses alive ”

Anonymous - NSW, Australia

“Covid was unsettling, to say the least. So much changed, right across the globe. Like many thousands- maybe even hundreds of thousands- I was summarily sacked over my stance regarding the vaccine. For some months I was a bit depressed. No job, little social interaction, worrying about some finances...what was I to do, I wondered? Then Mum noticed a calling by a local family restaurant for someone to wash the dishes. We agreed that that was something I could do, and I think it was a pretty secure career move. There will always be dirty dishes, right? After popping in to chat with the owner four years ago, I haven't looked back. If anything, I'm now looking forward with greater confidence. For those of you in power, remember who serve and why you got there in the first place. If it's merely a power-trip, maybe think twice. But if it's the common man, remember we need leaders of integrity more than ever. ”

Timothy - NSW, Australia

“I started my business when my eldest daughter was almost 1 year old. That will soon be 17 years ago. It was the only way for me to balance the needs of my family and my financial obligations. My business now provides employment to an amazing team of professional women, who like me, couldn’t find the balance needed in a corporate environment. Together we support small and medium sized business owners and managers who need to juggle the constantly changing employment laws and a challenging employment landscape in order for their businesses to survive. Unfortunately, that strain and complexity is resulting in more small and medium businesses failing than ever before. Almost 500,000 businesses have closed in the past 12 months and 34% of small and medium business owners have identified as experiencing a mental health issue. Yet, without our contribution to the national economy, 5 million people would be unemployed. We love what we do. We are passionate and determined. However, we need help and support to contribute at the same or higher rates. Personally, I’m obligated to pay my team and their superannuation at my own expense. On a regular basis, I pay them but don’t get paid as fellow small business owners, my clients, are doing it tough. Their poor cashflow affects mine. While I’m resilient and adapting my services to cope, I can’t continue like this indefinitely. I know that I would be financially better off back in a corporate environment now that my children are older, but who will support my clients? ”

Therese - NSW, Australia

“Govt is more concerned with helping the Big End of Town (who are financially stable), rather than support the Small Businesses that need a hand. (Who have Bootstrapped and doing it hard). The current Future Made in Australia (FMIA) agenda is a bloody joke. It is only for renewable energy, critical minerals, medical, and tech related industry. Or the big end of town. If you are outside that, you miss out. (Emails from Ministers and Govt Depts to prove it). I have a business that will create 200 jobs (with exports) in manufacturing processes. But as I - - do not fit in the above sectors for the FMIA agenda - am not classed as a manufacturer (WTF? I have a product to manufacture) - the product is not classed as innovation (WTF? Yet the Qld Small Business Commissioner and senior Govt officials agree it is innovative) then I am on my own and not applicable for any grants. And I have various emails from Ministers and Govt Depts confirming all this. I have - - Bootstrapped to get me to manufacture stage ($200k) - Validated the product - Govt body support Australia wide - Own the ITP here and NZ - EOI's to purchase - Consumers wanting the product The Govt needs to support ALL Aussie manufacturing. Not just their select agenda ones. Australia loses many many jobs and ideas and innovations to overseas economies or it is lost altogether, because of lack of support from Govt. What SMB’s needs is - 1- Govt investment into 'viable' Small Business Innovation by way of very low interest business loans - Cannot get a bank loan because of no security or trading figures - Not viable for Venture Capital. (Too much greed wanted here for Unicorns) - Do not know private investors, cannot get to known investors (some too greedy and take advantage) - Bureaucratic rubbish (as stated) 2- Capital investment into Start-up SMB's by way of direct grants - Most are bootstrapped Sole Traders who do not have the money to match 1:1 3-Too much passed around from one Dept to another, to end up back at the start (The Govt’ merry-go-round) 4- Quick decision times on responses back However, in Australia we have become very confused about the meaning of the word innovation. A persistent misconception in innovation discourse equates innovation exclusively with technological advancement. There are many other types of innovation other than driven by R”

Ian - QLD, Australia

“Small businesses need to be supported by allowing them to grow. Taxes imposed on them are stifling growth. So many small businesses have folded under the weight of these taxes. Politicians seem to think that owning your own business malkes you somehow rich and therefore able to afford to pay taxes. Owners work very hard; long hours, no hiolidays ,making sure that their customers are looked after and often dipping into their own savings to sustain the business. Without them, the country's economy would be in poor shape with the government having to pay more in welfare payments or take over which would amount to communism. We all know from history, how inefficient and unproductive that has been. ”

Anonymous - SA, Australia

“Being a tax paying small business owner, we have been paying the right BAS taxes of gst 10% which is a significant hit for us, and ww have no choice but to ask for payment instalment plan. We have to pay a superannuation of 11.5% soon to be 12% which is very painful on our finances, let alone paying super upfront in 2026….wages and rental is going up and we need the government to think seriously about us small business owners who are also providing jobs for our young people and contributing to the economy. We need urgent access to government aid.”

Anonymous - NSW, Australia

“Payroll tax still applies to General Practices and starts 1/7/2025 unless the business is restructured.... at great up-front and ongoing business costs and future inconvenience ”

Anonymous - VIC, Australia

“I firmly believe the Australian small business sector is being wiped away. Sadly, this view is based on daily lived experience working with many small businesses nationwide in all industries. I have been eagerly awaiting one of the political parties to step up and support the small businesses; however, the complete opposite is happening. From over-complicated and unnecessary compliance requirements for data entry and bookkeeping businesses to shocking Fair Work changes (being applied retrospectively in many cases) and the terrible changes to laws for international students are now leaving in droves yet are prepared to fill the fill the cleaning, factory and farming jobs that Aussies won't do, that are shutting the better compliant small businesses down. Seriously, every day my phone rings with some disheartened small business owner struggling to navigate and operate the tsunami of laws that have happened every few months for the past few years (eg new non-compete is yet another example!!!) and the threat of their hard working, tax paying and intelligent staff being taken away. The cost of living, housing and childcare cannot be resolved under the current policies and laws, nor will they be addressed under the proposed policies of either major party. Wake up, Australia, the economy is imploding - and yet we keep looking outward to blame others!!!!!!!!!”

Anonymous - WA, Australia

“Small businesses employ millions of Australians. A huge contribution of giving people work. The sad fact is 29,000 business have gone under since Labor have been in. A lot of people losing there jobs because of the costs to small business. https://www.liberal.org.au/.../labor-heads-to-election...”

John - VIC, Australia

“Small business is not the backbone of Australia under Labour, they want BIG government and small business closed - check the reset plan it's Albozos sheet music.”

Tony - NSW, Australia

“Did you know 29,000 businesses CLOSED doors under Labor? God knows how many jobs have gone! Negotiate your wages / pay and leave if you aren’t appreciated or valued. It’s an employee market atm !”

Anonymous - QLD, Australia

“A few suggestions for small business under $10m. Federal Government - Relief for Small Business impacted by Cyclone Alfred - this would cost the Government no up-front funding if they would give an exemption from GST for six months to help with the Small businesses financial recovery, they could also look at cancelling existing payment plans up to a value of $100,000, this way the businesses will survive and the Government will eventually be accumulating GST from them, if the businesses go out of business they will be making Nil. State Government - abolish Payroll Tax for business under $10m - apparently there is only 6% of businesses this will apply to, it would help these small businesses greatly, they have rescinded payroll tax for Drs, so other smaller industries should be included as well, especially Grouping ABN's. Red Tape, this is different for many businesses, when you talk to the Government about Red Tape they ask which ones are you referring to, however different businesses have different problems, Centrelink - Family payments for staff, Workers Compensation - timeframes - Superannuation - this takes a huge amount of time to collage, If the superannuation is going to weekly payments the workload and expense is going to be impossible for small business to absorb - and adds many more hours into the office to collect data for the Government, these departments tend to want things within 2 days and harrass with phone calls, emails etc, they have no comprehension of the workload for a small business and don't take into account the already huge workload. GST should be taken off at the terminal point, banks have been taking fees out of payments for years, why isn't the Government doing this, the Government will then get their GST up front and small business doesn't have all the paperwork involved. Our personal experiences since Covid 19 - we have increasing wages -increasing 6 monthly, increasing energy costs, increasing super, increasing rent, increasing cost of goods, we have a lower end clientele that are looking for discounts and deals all the time, we cannot in this cost of living crisis increase our costs to cover these increases daily. Small Business is being pushed to the brink with cost of living and now the on top of that we have a Cyclone disaster and have had no income for 5 days and we feel the Government has neglected the private sector for too long. No private sector, there is no money to run the Government of the Day and for them to have a budget. Somewhere along the line they need to help small business in the private sector a lot more than just saying we are the backbone of the country. The mental pressure everyday is extreme, the workload increases daily, no wages for ourselves can be paid, we are working 60 hours a week for nothing - just getting into more tax debt. We have had no turnover and closed for 5 days, however still have to pay wages, annual leave etc requested because the staff had those days off. We have been in business for more than 30 years and feel the impost now with Payroll Tax, Super, GST, Wages, Energy etc are the worst trading conditions ever and we don't want to be in business anymore. There will be another 100 staff out of work because we are at the end of our teether - many more small businesses feel the same way - the Government needs to look at Small Business conditions seriously. Due to the $1000 relief grant from the Government for the workers just announced for Cyclone Alfred, our staff don't want to come to work now the Cyclone has passed, they want to go out and spend their $1000 - this Grant was great for the right people however some of our staff only missed a day or two of work and we feel it should have been more means tested. As a small business owner we have yet to hear if we get anything from the Government to help survive this next catastrophe, the loss of stock, loss of turnover with no power and not being able to trade, damage to the premises etc etc. is all on our shoulders! We need immediate help for Small Businesses impacted by Cyclone Alfred and in the Zone.”

Glen - QLD, Australia

“Smaller businesses are hugely important in any community yet Australian communities and especially our public servants and politicians just don’t seem to care. The current fair work definition of small business is ridiculously tiny, set so low at less than 15 employees by simple headcount, in an era of unprecedented flexible work! 15 staff and the hapless business owner is on the hook for high-risk legislation such as union-led unfair dismissal, and redundancy costs for all staff if the business unexpectedly busts eg if the principal gets sick. Yhis is on top of our world leading employee add ons such as super and long service costs. Even school aged children can find it very hard to get their first after-school job with the increased government over reach. Insurance costs can be through the roof to help cover the costs of ploying even a very modest staff. The hours and hours of admin work expected by the government as ‘just a cost of business’ 
is enough to drive even the sturdiest amongst us to tears, and the ATO has proven time and again to interpret legislation in ways that are actively detrimental to their small business payers. In out twenty years of round-the-clock work, the ATO has gained far, far more income from out business than we have been able to retain for ourselves. Yet the Australian public mentality is scathing in terms of tax contributions from small business. Tax contributions have nearly broken us many times as our smaller business struggles through recessions or other challenges. Now Labor has signed off on Unions walking into all Australian businesses to gamify family livelihoods. 
 The Australian environment is extremely unforgiving towards smaller and more local businesses. Psychologically we as a smaller business family have been nearly broken many times. Bankruptcy is as close as my husband’s injury or heart attack. To simply stay afloat requires much, much more than a 38 hour week and much of the pressure it must be said comes from the government. Australian governments don’t seem to want Australian small and medium businesses and the culture and community they bring. Australia seems to like big business mall stores and minimum wage go-nowhere jobs. Please, can we turn this attitude and hostile environment around. We want a brighter future and opportunities for the hard-working, the brave and the innovative to not only struggle from quarter to quarter or year to year, but to actually be rewarded, at least with a fair per-hour recompense. Vitality in a community and an economy needs smaller businesses. Let’s stop killing them. ”

Lisa - WA, Australia

“Yes and they employ millions of Australians. A huge contribution of giving people work. The sad fact it 29,000 business have gone under since Labor have been in. A lot of people losing there jobs because of the costs to small business. https://www.liberal.org.au/.../labor-heads-to-election...”

John - NSW, Australia

“How many has Labor wiped out? Almost 30,000 so far?”

Walter - QLD, Australia

“Small businesses are essential but unfortunately the Labor government is destroying them. Keep fighting”

Annette - NSW, Australia

“Don't let the big end of town off the hook.”

Peter - NSW, Australia

“Small business the countries largest employer”

Raymond - WA, Australia

“Covid killed my small business in 2019...never to return.”

Wil - QLD, Australia

“Labor has destroyed small businesses. Red tape, green tape, more and more compliance costs etc.”

Helen - VIC, Australia

“What is a Holiday ? Who runs my business when I'm un well or a familiy member dies ? No one $8000 PA rates ”

Tony - ACT, Australia