Research suggests that the gloss has worn off SMEs’ view of the current Government ahead of the federal election.
The latest report from the MYOB Business Monitor survey – a bi-annual national survey of more than 1000 SME owners, now in its seventh year – indicates that the number of business owners that are dissatisfied with the level of support they receive from Government are now out-numbering those satisfied.
The figures tell two stories. On the one hand the Government remains far more popular amongst SMEs than its predecessor. On the other, as the Government lobbies for pre-election support from this crucial business sector, dissatisfaction levels in the past six months have increased.
Since the Coalition was elected in September 2013, the opinion of the Federal Government has been far more favourable than in the prior four years – ranging between 23% and 30% – but it has now dipped to its lowest level of 20%.
In terms of satisfaction with the level of Federal Government support, the MYOB Business Monitor also showed a 10% decrease, from 30% in October to 20% in this wave. It also shows dissatisfaction with the level of support from State Governments has also increased significantly in this wave, from 30% in October 2015 to 38%.
This government has announced significant policies to support small and medium businesses, so I’m sure it is concerning that despite an election campaign that has placed a significant amount of attention on business, the results show the government’s message isn’t resonating as strongly as they’d like.
After seeing an improvement in perceptions of Government support over the last year and a half, we now see that small business operators are feeling less supported. Small-businesses operators are the backbone of the nation and their views will be closely monitored by all politicians in the final weeks before the election.
While these latest MYOB survey findings are somewhat sobering, it is not all bad news for the Government. There were a number of bright spots including a more positive view by younger business owners – dissatisfaction of 22% in Gen Y compared to 37% for baby-boomers – and sole traders – dissatisfaction of 29% compared to 45% for small business.
Election lead up – what SMEs would vote for
As the Federal Election approaches, small-business owners have indicated they want to see a continuation of the $20,000 instant asset tax write-off scheme.
68% of SMEs surveyed said making the $20,000 instant asset tax write-off a permanent policy was the number one initiative they would vote for.
It was positive to see the Federal Government increase the eligibility to $10 million for those who are able to access the instant asset write-off, but it’s disappointing that this policy is set to end on 30 June, 2017. The results from the Business Monitor show that SMEs are calling for the Federal Government to make this permanent.
Other key policies that SMEs would vote for include: assigning a proportion of Government procurement contracts to small businesses – 58%, the establishment of an incentive bonus for businesses employing people over age 50 – 57%, and increased Federal Government funding for skills, training and apprenticeship programs – 54%.
With the Government’s recent investment in the youth employment scheme, the PaTH Initiative, it’s interesting to see that a majority of SME owners would also be interested in an incentive bonus for employing people over the age of 50. This would be beneficial to baby boomers who are looking to return to the Australian workforce.
Tim Reed, CEO, MYOB
