When we chat to the owner of the coffee shop down the road, his biggest concern these days isn’t an available workforce or the cost of coffee, it’s dealing with the ATO. He compares dealing with the ATO to dealing with the mafia - a stretch perhaps, but a clear indication of the stress involved with the complicated system set up for business owners to pay their taxes.

Small businesses make up 98% of businesses in Australia. They contribute approximately one third of our GDP. They provide jobs for 5.1 million people and 42% of all apprentices and trainees in training – nearly double the amount supported by a big business.

Small businesses are not only a driving force of our economy, they are a driving force of our culture. Entrepreneurship - the drive to build, innovate, grow - is vital to a thriving economy and culture. 

And yet we are failing small business owners everywhere. Burdensome regulations and high borrowing rates are discouraging small business owners and entrepreneurs.

The Coalition’s answer was tax breaks for lunches and entertainment for small business owners. It’s like they had never spoken to a small business owner. In our experience, small business owners’ primary concern isn’t long lunches at the golf club.

But perhaps more disconcerting was Labor’s response, which wasn’t a strong policy that would support small business owners, but a press release about how much the tax cuts for lunches and entertainment would cost. Just another example of the major parties playing politics over policy.

How about some real policies instead? What about starting with working with small business owners to determine what would be most useful to them. Then looking at reforms across tax, technology, government support, access to finance and the workforce to put in place a system that advocates for small business owners instead of punishes them. 

Australia is built on the foundations of small businesses that have gone on to become global players, from Atlassian to Canva to Cochlear. We are also defined by our boutique cafes and restaurants. If we don’t support the people behind these businesses, we risk losing what sits behind the very make up of our country.