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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to extend a hand to struggling small businesses in the upcoming federal budget.
Australia’s 2.5 million small businesses are expected to take center stage and the Prime Minister is set to deliver a pre-budget speech.
“Helping Australian families and small family businesses with their energy bills was a key priority in last year’s budget,” Anthony Albanese will tell a small business summit on Thursday.
“And as we prepare next month’s budget, small businesses and families will once again be front and center in our thinking.”
No specific policy measures will be detailed, but the Prime Minister will talk about the benefits of rooftop solar and batteries as a “smart investment that delivers a significant return to businesses on tight margins.”
Anthony Albanese is expected to emphasize small businesses ahead of the federal budget in May.
“One in three small businesses going solar is a great start, and I am confident that with the right investments and support and continued advancements in technology, that number will continue to increase,” he will say.
Cost-of-living relief is on the card for the federal budget due to be passed on May 14, although the treasurer has warned against generous cash handouts that risk stoking inflation.
Albanese’s speech follows Peter Dutton’s speech on Wednesday, in which the opposition leader described the Labor Party’s industrial relations changes and “renewables only” energy policies as going against small businesses.
He also highlighted nuclear technology as an opportunity to boost competition and productivity by reducing energy costs.
Albanese will say his government’s energy response is focused on proven technologies that “will make a difference here and now.”
“Yesterday you heard the leader of the opposition talk about his plan to have a plan to build nuclear reactors somewhere along the east coast, sometime before 2050, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars” , the prime minister will say.
“Solar energy is reliable, fast and affordable, and even more so when combined with storage.”
The Prime Minister will also defend his government’s changes to industrial relations, which include a path for casual workers to convert to permanent positions if they wish.
“Our government is pro-business and pro-worker,” he will say, acknowledging that without employers there can be “no good jobs, fair wages or decent conditions for employees.”
“That is the constructive and balanced approach we have tried to bring to our labor relations reforms.”
Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Brad Jones will also address the small business event.