SA Govt the most unpopular among business
Premier Jay Weatherill and Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis discussing this year's budget: will it turn around business attitudes? Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily
The South Australian Government is the most unpopular government in Australia among small and medium businesses, a business survey has found.
The latest Sensis Business Index survey found that 35 per cent of South Australian small and medium businesses believed the State Government’s policies worked against them.
Only 5 per cent of those surveyed believed the Government was supportive of small business.
These were the worst statistics of any state or territory government and were in stark contrast to governments like the Northern Territory (29 per cent supportive), NSW (24 per cent) and Tasmania (23 per cent).
The State Government has recorded high negative ratings for the past seven quarters. Businesses were most critical about tax being too high or increasing (26 per cent), payroll tax (12 per cent), ,poor economic management or business environment (24 per cent) and increasing costs (18 per cent).
Source: Sensis Business Index Survey – June quarter 2015
The State Government announced a $650 million business tax reform program in the Budget this year, handed down on 18 June. The measures included abolishing stamp duty on commercial property transactions and non-real property transfers.
The Sensis survey was carried out from 12 May to 29 June, so many of those surveyed would have provided their views before the state Budget.
However, despite concerns about the State Government, the Sensis survey found a spike in business confidence in South Australia during the quarter.
Sensis CEO John Allan said the confidence of South Australian businesses was now just above the national average.
“This is a big improvement on the last survey when South Australia was the least confident state, with confident businesses reporting healthy sales and being well-established as key factors,” he said.
“During the last quarter all indicators improved and are now in positive territory with big turnarounds in sales and profitability. The expectations for this quarter are for further improvement across the board.”
South Australian businesses were particularly pleased with the measures announced in the federal Budget in May, with the Federal Government receiving a big jump in support from those surveyed.
“Eight times as many South Australian businesses thought the Budget will benefit their business as those who thought it will have a negative influence,” Allan said.
