NECA welcomes launch of small-business campaign

NECA has welcomed the launch of today’s small-business campaign and said it will give the campaign its full support.The Small Business - Too Big to Ignore campaign, which was officially launched in Western Sydney in front of an audience of more than 600 small business owners, including representatives from NECA, is designed to put small business centre stage in the run-up to September’s federal election.

As part of today’s launch, the campaign website toobigtoignore.org.au was unveiled, where small business owners, employees and the community are able to pledge their support for the campaign, donate to the fighting fund, and share their stories of business life in Australia.

NECA’s Chief Executive Officer James Tinslay, who attended the launch, said, “Most of our members are small electrical and communications contractors and they are fed up at having their needs ignored by politicians and governments. We urge all our members to go online and support this important campaign.”

The multimillion-dollar campaign, which is being organised by NECA’s peak employer organisation the Australian Chamber of Commence and Industry (ACCI), will feature press, radio, television and online advertising, as well as a series of events in metropolitan and regional Australia between now and the election.

“By uniting the many voices of small business around the country, the campaign’s aim is to change the attitudes and actions of politicians and governments and to show them that, together, small business is too big to ignore,” said Tinslay.

“The campaign will bring together, in the one place, the deeply personal accounts from real small business operators who have agreed to share their stories. It will give the widest possible group of small business the platform through which they can participate in the national debate. They may be small voices on their own, but together small business can make a big noise in Canberra.”

Speaking at the launch the President of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Richard Holyman said, “Everywhere I travel across Australia - from Perth to Penrith and Darwin to Devonport - the message is the same from small businesses: ‘enough is enough’.”

“It is time for small business to draw a line in the sand and send a message loud and clear. It is time that our voices are heard in Canberra and the next Australian government of whatever political colour is put on notice.

“We are too big to be ignored, we are the backbone of the community and the economy, and we won’t be taken for granted. This is not about men in pinstripe suits telling small business what’s good for them - it is about real small business people sharing real stories and making sure politicians and governments listen to them and act.”

The campaign will highlight that there are over two million small businesses in Australia that together employ more than seven million Australians or more than 60% of the workforce. Initially the campaign will concentrate on key small business issues like reducing government cost and red-tape burdens, employment reform, tax relief and better infrastructure.