Off and racing

Well, we are finally off and racing in the 2010 Federal Election. After three weeks of a phony campaign, Julia Gillard finally pulled the trigger on a five-week election campaign that promises to be frenetic and bruising.

Now, we know that not everyone finds election campaigns riveting and for many entrepreneurs there is a temptation to switch off from the distraction of the election campaign and just let it all wash over you.

But this time around, it’s well worth keeping any eye on the campaign and how the parties from both Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard are presented, because there are several big business issues up for debate.

Today we have kicked off our election coverage – and rest assured we will keep you updated throughout the campaign with our quick, easy-to-digest daily wraps of the big issues – by looking at the 10 big issues for business in the federal poll.

There’s a number of old favourites there, such as the economy, red tape and tax reform, where we’ll probably see Labor and the Coalition take broadly similar policy positions (although as always the devil may well be in the detail).

But there are already some big issues emerging where the two parties are taking very different paths.

For example, there is violent disagreement on the issues of tax reform, climate change, maternity leave and even the National Broadband Network (which it appears everyone supports, except for the Coalition).

Then there are those issues where small disagreements could make a big difference, such as industrial relations, population growth, skills and innovation.

Entrepreneurs need to watch these issues carefully as the parties reveal their specific policies. As we head into a period of relatively good economic growth, Labor and the Coalition have the chance to present some new and fresh ideas to help support fast-growing businesses.

Let’s hope they take it.