By Adam Coleman

The latest annual MYOB Australian Small Business Survey, has uncovered a high level of dissatisfaction with government‘s contribution to small business development.

When asked to rate the current performance of the Federal Government in helping the development of small business, 56 per cent of small business owners reported a poor or very poor performance. This increased from 37 per cent in November 2007 (with the change of Government) but has remained steady since June 2008.

While the fieldwork for the survey took place just before the current global economic crisis, the CEO of MYOB, Tim Reed said that even then, small business owners had good reasons to be unhappy with government support.

“With so many macroeconomic issues in flux at the moment; inflation, consumer confidence, exchange rates, changes to industrial relations laws and uncertainty in business costs, whether fair or unfair it is understandable that small business owners are feeling dissatisfied with their Federal Government,” he said.

At the state level, the New South Wales Government received a drubbing in the survey with 76 per cent of small business owners rating its contribution as poor.

This was a good deal higher than the national average of 61 per cent of small business owners that rated their state government’s contribution as poor.

Rising petrol prices are hitting small business costs, with 73 per cent of small business owners surveyed reporting their business costs have increased due to rising petrol prices.  And small business owners are starting to pass these costs on to their customers, 36 per cent of small business owners have raised or intend to raise (19 per cent and 17 per cent respectively) their prices due to the increase in petrol prices.

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