ELECTION 2010: COSBOA targets SME voters in marginal seats with campaign mail out

Small business lobby group COSBOA will send a brochure outlining its view on the major parties’ policies to voters in five key marginal seats where it claims the SME vote could change the outcome of the election.

In what COSBOA chief Peter Strong is calling a “first for the small business community”, the organisation will target entrepreneurs in the Victorian seat of Deakin (currently held by Labor with a 1.4% majority); the Queensland seat of Dickson (held by Labor with a 0.8% majority); the Tasmania seat of Bass (held by Labor with a 1% majority); the NSW seat of Lindsay (held by Labor with a 6.3% majority); and the NSW seat of Bennelong (held by Labor with a 1.4% majority).

Strong says small business owners make up at least 13% of the voters in any electorate and claims entrepreneurs have been largely ignored by both parties for some time.

“We’ve been underdone for a couple of decades now. The Liberal party thinks they own us and the Labor party has seen us as a bit of an enemy,” he says.

“For 2.4 million people, we don’t get the coverage we deserve. It just doesn’t gel with the pollies at the moment that we are politically important.”

The brochure, which can be seen here, will be dropped in 40,000 letterboxes in the key seats and outlines COSBOA’s policies including small business representation in Canberra, IR, broadband and tax.

While the document favours the Coalition in four of the 10 areas including independent contractors, unfair contract protections and small business representation at government level, it does support Labor strongly on the National Broadband Network.

The points are shared on tax reform and IR, although COSBOA slams the Opposition as being “too scared to say anything” on workplace relations.

While Strong says COSBOA is keen to make its presence felt in the election, he is under no illusion that the group’s ability to influence SME voters is somewhat limited.

“These guys don’t vote in a block. We know that no one can tell small business people how to vote but we will try to make sure that business issues are high in their minds when they make their decision.”