We need a Big Budget for Small Business

By Business SA, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive, Martin Haese.

Published in The Advertiser SA Business Journal on Tuesday 22 June 2021.

With the vitally important 2021/22 State Budget being handed down today, and with the end of the financial year fast approaching, I reflect on what a different position South Australian businesses were in only twelve months ago.

Although many businesses were gradually returning to trade in June 2020, most were still riddled with uncertainty and hoping that last year’s State Budget would support them through the turbulence. Treasurer Lucas delivered the goods and as the peak body for business in South Australia, Business SA was grateful for it. 

The bounce back following the first lockdown in 2020 was unexpected and other than the disruption caused by a subsequent lockdown in November, business confidence has continued to build. As we learned from the results of the March 2021 Quarter of the Business SA William Buck Survey of Business Expectations, business conditions have again risen now to their highest level since just prior to the Global Financial Crisis, and business confidence was not far behind.

Although the majority of businesses are doing better than expected, the survey also determined that 21 per cent of businesses expect their revenues to be below 70 per cent of pre COVID levels by the end of this quarter. That’s of concern. This is why today’s State Budget needs to back all businesses, with a focus on initiatives that both grow our economy and support small businesses that are still experiencing hardship.

The unfortunate reality is that this pandemic is far from over. Although on a local level, South Australia is thankfully performing well, the risk of COVID outbreaks are still front of mind for many small business owners, as demonstrated by lockdowns over the border in Victoria earlier this month.

In April this year, I handed our pre-budget submission to Treasurer Rob Lucas. It included a suite of 13 recommendations from Business SA. These recommendations are far more than hours upon hours of work from my expert team, let me tell you. These are genuine pleas from our members, the coal face of the business community across South Australia.

That’s why today’s budget MUST address a funding mechanism to support South Australian SMEs through future periods of severe restrictions. It MUST support the events, arts and live performance sectors who are still heavily impacted by restrictions. Temporary payroll tax waivers should be extended for those businesses most acutely impacted by ongoing restrictions including closed international borders, and Adelaide’s CBD should have a bright spotlight shone upon it through a cold and dark winter, with hospitality, retail and accommodation sectors struggling to perform without international tourists and students.

We did ask for far more and hope for measures in this budget that enable the growth industry, build local manufacturing, support jobs growth, fast track important infrastructure plans with more local procurement and capitalise on our state’s global renewable energy and circular economy leadership.

Business SA will host Treasurer Rob Lucas at Adelaide Oval on Friday 2 July for our State Budget Luncheon with the Treasurer presenting a detailed business briefing on the 2021/22 State Budget. This event includes a response by Shadow Treasurer Stephen Mullighan and a budget analysis by an expert business panel. Tickets are available at business-sa.com