Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will promise to put Australia’s 2.5 million small business owners at the “front and centre” in the May 14 budget as the Labor government prepares to unveil its energy bill policies.
While Mr. Albanese will not outline specific measures, he is expected to talk up the benefits of rooftop solar and batteries as a “smart investment that delivers an important return to businesses on tight margins.”
This initiative is in response to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s criticism that Labor’s “renewables only” energy policies were “an engineering feat of pure fantasy” and would come at the cost of small businesses.
In a speech to the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) on April 4, Mr. Albanese will describe his government as “pro-business and pro-worker,” to ease anxieties from the business sector that is struggling with the cost of living crisis.
He will also praise Labor’s cost of living measure in the 2023 budget as having “helped people under pressure—and it helped fight inflation.”
“Helping Australian families and small family businesses with their energy bills was a key priority in last year’s budget,” he will say.
PM to Respond to Dutton’s Criticism of Labor’s Renewable Policy
Mr. Albanese will also take aim at the opposition leader, who said in a speech on April 3 that Labor’s energy policy was pushing the country “over an energy cliff” while flagging nuclear technology as an opportunity to drive competition and productivity.Mr. Dutton noted that businesses are already being asked to cut down their energy use in the afternoon to prevent overload on the network.
He added that there is “zero chance” of the roll-out of renewables being completed.”
“And yet the government is switching off the old system before the new one is ready. Indeed, some 90 percent of baseload power will exit the system by 2034,” Mr. Dutton said.
In his speech on April 4, Mr. Albanese will tout solar power as “reliable, fast and affordable—and all the more so when combined with storage.”
Describing that one in three small businesses with solar as “a great start,” he will express confidence in continued growth with the “right investments and support and the continuing advances in technology.”
Efforts To Defend Contentious IR Reforms
Furthermore, the prime minister will also defend his government’s contentious industrial relations legislation, which drew criticism from business groups in 2023 as being “deeply flawed.”The bill encompasses various workplace law changes, including mandating companies to pay labour-hire workers the same rates as full or part-time employees. The bill will also criminalise wage theft, revise gig economy working conditions for companies such as Uber Eats, create a pathway for casuals to become permanent, and end discrimination against survivors of domestic violence.
“The ‘same job same pay policy’ will make it harder for employers to get the workers they need,” said Innes Willox, CEO of the national employer association Ai Group in a statement in September 2023.
“The measures amount to an unfair and unjustified attack on labour-hire employers as well as the businesses and workers that depend upon the sector.”
Mr. Albanese is expected to hail his government as “pro-business and pro-worker,” recognising that without employers there can be no “good jobs, fair wages or decent conditions for employees.”
“That’s the constructive and balanced approach we’ve sought to bring to our industrial relations reforms.”
In March, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government’s budget strategy would focus on targeted cost-of-living relief instead of “cash splashes.”
“There will likely be additional cost-of-living help in the budget, but it won’t be anywhere near the magnitude of the tax cuts. Any extra help will be targeted, responsible, and affordable. There will not be big cash splashes in the budget, simple as that,” he said.
