Labor’s Disappointing “National Small Business Strategy”
THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SKILLS AND TRAINING
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FARRER
ROSS VASTA MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR BONNER
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
Labor’s Disappointing “National Small Business Strategy”
The Albanese Government has released a “National Small Business Strategy” claiming it as a “national first”.
However, despite Labor’s spin, what Labor has produced amounts to an insult to millions of small businesses across Australia.
There is not a single new policy or measure in Labor’s new so-called “National Small Business Strategy”.
A third of the strategy is made up of cover pages, artwork and photos, with another third taken up by small business statistics and case studies of existing policies already being delivered by state governments.
The document does not even use images of Australian small businesses.
It includes multiple images sourced from stock files of a New Jersey bakery in the United States of America, two carpenters that featured in a Bank of America innovation campaign and a stock image of chef featured on Pew’s Demographic Overview of Illinois Secure Choice Program Population.
The Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta MP, called on Labor to tell how much this strategy will cost taxpayers and why it is filled with stock photos of American businesses.
“My advice to Bonner small businesses is don’t bother printing off this strategy because it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
“I think it is pretty disappointing that Labor would try to peddle this strategy as containing anything to help small businesses.
The Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business, Sussan Ley, called on Labor to come clean on how much this “strategy” cost the taxpayer and why it is filled with stock photos of Americans.
“Calling something a strategy does not make it a strategy, there is not a single new policy measure or intervention that will help Australia’s small business sector which is being smashed by Labor’s failures.”
“Anthony Albanese needs to fess up about why this’ ‘National Small Business Strategy’ has clearly been pulled together using stock images of foreign businesses, is this the sort of effort and attention Labor thinks our small businesses deserve?”
Just one page out of 62 describes anything close to new commitments from the Albanese Government to Australia’s struggling small businesses.
The only commitments in the strategy amount to: “Continuing the biannual Small Business Ministers’ Meetings”; “working together”; and “Regularly examining our focus areas”.
Labor’s so-called “National Small Business Strategy” is a waste of Australia’s taxpayer funds.
It contains more space on images of stock photos of American business owners than it does on making commitments and setting out concrete actions to help Australian businesses.
This is yet another example of the widespread waste across the public service under the Albanese Government and underscores that Labor does not understand small business.
It also comes as Australian small businesses remain in crisis because of Labor’s economic failures.
This comes as business failures accelerate under Anthony Albanese, 76 per cent of small and medium sized businesses say their costs will go up in 2025 and 71 per cent expect energy prices to keep rising.
Official ASIC insolvency data shows there have been more than 27,000 business insolvencies since the Albanese Government was elected and confirmed the December 2024 quarter was the worst quarter for business insolvencies on record with 3,852 businesses going to the wall.
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Media contacts:
Deputy Leader’s Office: Liam Jones 0431 000 583
Ross Vasta MP: Sarah Crawford 0431 435 362