Small business puts PM, Dutton on election notice

Amid record insolvencies, struggling small business owners have put heat on Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton | WATCH DUTTON’S CAMPAIGN VIDEO

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton visits a local business in the Labor-held Adelaide seat of Boothby. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt/NewsWire

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have both been put on ­notice by Australia’s 2.5 million small business owners to make permanent and increase the instant asset write-off to $150,000, lower the company tax rate and fix the payroll tax scourge amid record insolvencies.

The Australian can reveal policy proposals sent to Treasury by the peak small business lobby group include tax, red tape and recognition reforms to help mum-and-dad operators avoid going to the wall, with 49 per cent of firms not breaking even after being hit by soaring energy, rental and insurance costs.

The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia pre-­budget submission is headlined by measures including a larger instant asset write-off, reduction in administrative tax burdens and consideration of a tax holiday or lower tax rates.

COSBOA is calling for the instant asset-write off to be made permanent and lifted to $150,000, an overhaul of payroll tax settings “including harmonisation at a minimum and raising thresholds to encourage small business employment”, and a lower company tax rate for small businesses.

The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are preparing packages and policies ahead of the election to bolster support across small businesses, which employ 5.2 million Australians and pump more than $500bn into the economy.

Mr Dutton, who is campaigning in Western Australia and Perth this week, on Monday will launch a new “Get Australia Back on Track” ad in which he speaks about his experience running a business and talks about standing up to “vested interests”.

“I started a small family business. It grew to 40 staff who had families, mortgages and aspirations. Which means that you were relied on to balance the books and be responsible,” he says in the ad. The television and social media ad, which features the Opposition Leader visiting small businesses across Australia, recounts Mr Dutton’s experience as a police officer and Howard government minister.

“The right decisions aren’t always popular but I’m not interested in taking the easy path because we live in the best country in the world and I’m determined to get Australia back on track,” he said.

COSBOA proposals sent to Jim Chalmers ahead of the March 25 budget, which will not proceed if an early election is called, focus on “the twin engines of reform: tax and red tape”.

The industry group is pushing for mandatory provisioning of small business impact statements before new policies are brought before cabinet, a dedicated “small business flying squad” to eliminate unnecessary compliance barriers, a comprehensible industrial relations system and a more “user-friendly approach to government agencies”. Recognition reforms include quarterly small business statements in parliament, a prime minister’s small business champion awards, and greater focus on small business within Treasury and finance.

COSBOA chief executive Luke Achterstraat said mum-and-dad operators were “bearing the brunt of a perfect storm of rising costs, slowing demand, and increasing compliance burdens”.

“For many small business owners, their life’s work is tied to their homes, with mortgages used as collateral to fund operations. Yet with sticky inflation and stubbornly high interest rates, their profitability and future are under threat,” Mr Achterstraat said.

“Despite these challenges, the federal government has yet to respond with the bold, visionary support these businesses desperately need.

“We urge the federal government to rise to this moment and deliver the vision and support that small businesses so urgently need.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: Matt Jelonek/Getty Images

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said “Labor’s cost-of-living crisis and reckless spending have smashed businesses”, after updated ASIC data last week confirmed more than 27,000 firms have become insolvent since the 2022 election, including 13,450 companies in 2024.

Ms Ley said “power prices have skyrocketed, Australia’s iconic cafes and restaurants are closing. builders are going bust”.

Since the 2022 election, 7183 construction firms have plunged into insolvency ahead of hospitality (4191), retail (1765) and manufacturing (1383).

The Albanese government has provided more than $640m in small business measures, including extending the $20,000 instant asset write-off, delivering energy bill relief of $325 to around one million eligible firms, and funding $41.7m for small business cyber security support.

The Coalition has pledged to make permanent and extend the instant asset write-off to $30,000 for firms with annual turnovers up to $10m and introduce a capped tax deduction of $20,000 for business-related meal and entertainment expenses.

A Dutton government would also double the work bonus to make it easier for retirees to stay in the workforce and reverse Labor IR reforms including returning to a simple definition of a casual worker and repealing “right to disconnect” laws.