The small business vote

This has been a very difficult and disappointing election campaign to watch for those in the SME community. Unlike few elections before, the agenda and the focus of the major parties has been dominated by a number of problems that aren’t problems at all, most notably boat people and government debt.

The big issues that really matter to SMEs – meaningful tax reform, innovation policy, small business support, export encouragement, skills shortages and climate change – have received scant attention and there has been a distinct lack of fresh thinking from both Labor and the Coalition.

As we argued in our Election Scorecard yesterday, both sides deserve a “fail” mark heading into tomorrow’s polls and there is little doubt many entrepreneurs will find it very difficult to decide who to vote for.

The record of the Rudd/Gillard Government is patchy.

Labor has handled the economy impressively during its time in office, guiding Australia through the GFC with a stimulus package that was well thought out, reasonably well executed and helpful to SMEs, particularly with the special investment allowance.

Labor has also worked hard at its broadband policy, showing it is prepared to look long-term and invest in real national building infrastructure.

However, Labor’s backflips on climate change, population policy and tax reform have been embarrassing. Its workplace relations policies – overseen by Gillard – have hit many SMEs hard and taken out a lot of the flexibility that employers came to enjoy and rely upon. The system clearly needs tweaking, and the fact that the Coalition is unprepared to do so is extremely disappointing.

We should not forget that it is only few months since Julia Gillard removed Kevin Rudd to rescue a government she admitted had “lost its way”. It is hard to believe that they have found it again, given most of the policies come from the Kevin Rudd era.

The Coalition has a similarly patchy policy platform. Its climate change and broadband policies are shockers. Its parental leave policy is generous, yet 3,000 employers (mostly larger companies) will need to pay for it. Its innovation policy talks of “streamlining” SME support service, and introducing a fee-for-service model.

The Coalition’s saving grace is that its commitment to the SME community is far stronger than that of Labor.

The Coalition’s small business policy includes a number of important commitments, including a promise to put the small business minster in Cabinet (something Labor inexplicably refuses to do) and the establishment of a small business ombudsman.

But most importantly of all, the Coalition has committed to working with regulators to try to improve small business access to finance by adjusting bank regulations such that lending to SMEs where property is used as security is cheaper and easier than it currently is.

This, more than any other issue, highlights the gap between Labor and the Coalition in the area of small business.

Labor’s believes the problem of access to finance is one of perception. The Coalition actually wants to tackle the issue.

Last election, SmartCompany gave the nod to Labor. This time, in an election where is often feels like we are picking the least-worst party, the Coalition deserves the SME vote.