Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson has accused the government of making it “harder to build, harder to hire and harder to grow”, in a pre-budget speech declaring entrepreneurs and small businesses should be central to Australia’s economic policy.
Speaking before the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Melbourne, Wilson on Monday criticised the Labor government’s economic management leading to the 2026-27 budget.
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“Australia needs a budget that builds an economy that rewards contribution, restores integrity, and expands opportunity,” he said.
“We need a budget that restores living standards by backing self-starters and small business.”
Entrepreneurs are bogged down by red tape and excess compliance measures, he said, while claiming the regulatory burden “crushes enterprise and energises complexity”.
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Wilson was critical of Labor’s reported tax reforms — like a potential reduction to the 50% capital gains tax discount, reworked negative gearing allowances, and rejigged family trust tax rates.
If enacted, those reforms would disproportionately fall on “everyday Australians”, with fewer ramifications for major corporates, super funds, and international investors, he said.
“National resilience starts with the resilience of families, community and small business,” he said.
To do this, “self-starters” should be put “at the centre of economic policy”.
“That means lowering the barriers to entry,” he continued.
“Reducing needless complexity. Making it easier to hire, expand and invest. Reducing taxes.
“And creating an environment where more Australians can back themselves and succeed.”
Government says productivity, fairness in focus
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For its part, the government says it is working to reduce needless duplication and complexity in the business regulatory system.
And in September last year, the Treasury released letters from 38 Commonwealth regulators, containing 400 specific ideas on how to best reduce red tape and encourage economic growth.
Those contributions “will continue to inform the government’s decisions on economic reform in the lead up to the budget and beyond,” Chalmers wrote at the time.
Touted reforms to the capital gains tax, negative gearing, and tax settings for trusts come under Chalmers’ vision for “intergenerational fairness”, and the idea that existing policies benefit older, wealthier Australians to the detriment of younger workers.
Permanently extending the instant asset write-off is another possibility in the 2026-27 budget, according to reports.
Industry and accounting groups have long called for the tax break to be made permanent, saying it would give small businesses certainty about major new upgrades.
But the government is staying tight-lipped about that measure in the lead-up to next Tuesday.
Minister for Small Business Anne Aly did not confirm the extension in a statement provided to SmartCompany on Friday.
“The Albanese Government is hard at work on the May Budget, with a focus on addressing inflation, productivity, and global uncertainty,” she said.
Even so, Aly pre-emptively disputed Wilson’s claim that the government is disregarding the small business sector.
“Small businesses are the heart of our economy, and we are always looking at measures that will assist them,” she said.
