As the election nears, cost-of-living pressures are a key driver of voting preferences for Australian small-business owners.
According to new research by OnDeck Australia, 85 per cent of small-business owners cite cost-of-living concerns as a deciding factor this polling day.
Over half (61 per cent) of business owners want rising business costs to be addressed this election, while 52 per cent say energy relief will be a key vote decider.
Moreover – and unsurprisingly – 52 per cent of business owners cited support for small business as the key issue that will shape their voting preferences. This includes, for instance, small-business tax sweeteners, red-tape reduction, export initiatives and tax reform.
But small-business owners aren’t just concerned about business matters: healthcare and medicare funding, as well as housing affordability, was the key deciding issue for 55 and 54 per cent of voters, respectively.
This election, both major parties have pledged cost-of-living relief measures for small-business owners – but neither has delivered the sweeping tax reforms or significant subsidies that many SMEs and advocacy groups have asked for.
Cameron Poolman, CEO of OnDeck Australia, warned of the impacts of ignoring the small-business community.
“We know that 98 per cent of Australian businesses are small businesses, and together they employ over five million people – about 42 per cent of the private sector workforce,” he said. “Any government who overlooks the small business community at election time does so at their own peril.”
