with
BRENDAN O’CONNOR MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRY SHADOW MINISTER FOR SCIENCE
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR GORTON

The second attempt by the Morrison Government at its SME Guarantee Scheme needs to do a much better job of supporting small businesses than the first one did.
 
The Treasurer needs to explain how today’s announcement, that left-over funds from this grossly under-subscribed Scheme will underwrite larger loans, will address rising anxiety around the future of vital economic supports.
 
Throughout this recession Labor has backed every effort to help small businesses and that won’t change.
 
The best way for the Morrison Government to get behind businesses is to end the uncertainty surrounding the future of JobKeeper and support the thousands of employers and millions of Australians that continue to rely on it.
 
While measures to help support struggling business and address the collapse in business investment are desperately needed, the Morrison Government has poorly targeted its support for SMEs from day one, with only $1.6 billion of the original $40 billion accessed so far.
 
Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have failed time and time again to get business incentives right, with business investment declining even before the summer fires and the virus outbreak.
 
The biggest test of this Government’s management of the recession and its aftermath is what happens to jobs and the businesses which create them.
 
Thursday’s budget update needs to be a full, frank and comprehensive set of four-year forecasts, not just another marketing exercise.
 
People have a right to know how bad the Government expects this recession to get, how much debt has piled up, and how long it will take for unemployment to come back down again.
 
MONDAY, 20 JULY 2020