Small businesses are the engine house of the Australian economy. They represent the entrepreneurial spirit of the nation, the people who will work to establish a new enterprise and employ other Australians. Their health is a measure of the vibrancy of the economy.
I learned this lesson from a young age. Long before the expression “small business” became vogue, my parents were engaged in such an enterprise. They established a small livestock and general transport business, delivering sheep and cattle to market, and other goods, such as fuel, to local farmers.
They both drove the trucks. When my father died, my mother continued the business for another 15 years, rising at 3 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. to transport stock to the local markets.
When the seasons were good and the stock prices high, they could afford to employ another driver. But when they were not, they did all the driving themselves. I quickly learned that it was their enterprise and hard work that enabled our family to live.
We weren’t wealthy but their efforts enabled my brothers and I to obtain the best education my parents could afford us.
My story has been repeated millions of times throughout Australia over the decades.
Many migrants came to Australia with barely more than the clothes on their backs and started up businesses that allowed them to eventually sponsor wives and other family members to Australia. They employed other Australians and contributed to the wealth and fortune of the nation.
I recalled this past when I read recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) about the vitality of businesses in the various states.
In 2022-23 there was an 11,031 increase in the number of businesses in Queensland, the largest net increase in any state or territory.
A Grim Outlook for a Once-Thriving State
A drive through most suburban shopping areas will reveal a spate of vacant commercial and retail premises.Under the Andrews Labor government, Victoria is the highest taxing state in the nation, with businesses suffering under the burden of higher payroll taxes, higher WorkCover premiums, and higher land taxes.
Businesses that had expected to see a reduction in WorkCover premiums because of their good record have been whacked with additional costs.
Since Premier Daniel Andrews came to office, almost 50 new or increased taxes have been introduced in the state.
Additionally, there are significant other increases in the costs of conducting a business due to the state government’s decisions.
In particular, energy prices have escalated considerably.
The state has hundreds of years of coal reserves and decades of gas, but the Andrews government has refused to harness these resources, preferring to lift prices for energy produced by inadequate and unreliable renewables.
Profitable industries, such as forestry, are being hit by Labor’s policies.
Farmers fear that large tracts of prime agricultural land will become unusable following the installation of massive power lines.
Batteries of large wind turbines blot the landscape and divide rural communities.
At the same time as raising taxes, the Labor government has wasted a billion dollars on a major road that was not built; and $380 million (US$243 million)—and perhaps as much as $600 million—on a Commonwealth Games that won’t be conducted!
On top of all that, the state faces a $171 billion debt, by far the largest of any of the states, more than the combined debt of New South Wales and Queensland (both together have a larger population than Victoria).
Promises to electrify various railway lines and provide additional services to regional cities have been neglected.
Promised funding for various hospitals has not materialised.
Nor has the Andrews government funded its 2022 election promise to deliver more than 500 additional police officers.
It is sad to say it, but Victoria is, unfortunately, a state in gradual decline.
