Queensland small businesses are fed up with party politics

Wednesday 9 November, 2016

Small business owners across Queensland are fed up with party politics, a lack of action on the economy and no clear solutions being presented by the State Government or Opposition, according to latest research by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ).

An exclusive poll of 1600 businesses, conducted by leading independent market research company ReachTEL, reveals they are rejecting both sides of politics and calling for an early State Election to get things back on track as quickly as possible.

More than 60 per cent of the random sample of businesses surveyed believed the State Government was working against small business. Only 10 per cent said the government was supportive of small business.

Download the findings

CCIQ believes small business are fed up with politics and politicians for specific reasons and these include the new Easter Sunday Public Holiday; Workers’ Compensation; M1/Traffic Congestion; Cross River Rail; Union Interference and Party Politics in general.

CCIQ’s Pulse Survey of Business Conditions has consistently cited the State Government’s lack of action and leadership as a key cause of poor business confidence for the Queensland economy.

And CCIQ’s new monthly Queensland Economic Update, while acknowledging signs the economy may have turned a corner, noted there was still considerable room for improvement in restoring confidence in the economy and encouraging a return to spending on goods and services.

The ReachTEL survey showed that that more than 90 per cent of the business community rated the State Government’s performance in terms of stimulating economic growth and job creation as either very poor, poor or average at best.

Small businesses also wanted to see the Opposition with a vision for Queensland’s future by putting sound economic policies on the table.

Small businesses were critical of the first 18 months of the State Government. Asked to rate its performance, 87 per cent said it was average, poor or very poor. The State Opposition fared little better, with their performance rated as average, poor or very poor by 77 per cent.

With almost two in three businesses wanting to go back to the polls within the next six months, CCIQ calls on Labor, LNP, Greens, Katter’s Australia Party, One Nation and Independent MPs to formulate small business-friendly policies that will actively work towards helping grow the economy and boost jobs and investment in small business across Queensland.

In Part 2 of CCIQ’s exclusive Small Business Survey, conducted by ReachTEL, the focus is on where politicians need to direct their attention to help small business.

It will deal with aspects of the economy, including managing the State Budget, economic growth, reducing costs, red tape and taxes on business, delivering infrastructure, innovation, start-ups and entrepreneurs.

CCIQ will continue to undertake this research on a quarterly basis with the broader business community and its members to further enhance the overarching data provided by the Suncorp Group CCIQ Pulse Survey of Business Conditions and CCIQ’s monthly Queensland Economic Update.

We are of the firm belief that this long-term view is to scrutinise the policies of all parties in the run up to the next State Election because neither major party has convinced small business to vote for them.

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