Electioneering for Business

The tri-annual talk fest over when the Federal Election will be called culminated over the weekend with the news that we go to the polls on August 21. Like all sections of the community, business in directly impacted by the outcomes of Federal Elections.

A pressing issue affecting local business, as I discussed in last week's Viewpoint, is transport, and in particular the increasing traffic congestion in western Sydney. Prime Minister Julia Gillard was quoted in weekend newspapers as saying, "Our cities are under stress and our families are under stress". The PM will be appealing to people living "where it's a struggle to find a seat on the bus or train, where you have to set the alarm earlier and earlier because peak-hour traffic doesn't last for just an hour anymore". In fact peak-hour hasn't lasted for an hour for some time.

So the business community of western Sydney asks of Federal Labor, "What are you plans regarding this for your next term if re-elected?" Will we see joint federal-state initiatives aimed at addressing the woeful transport infrastructure of western Sydney?

Business also wants to know, of both major parties, what are your climate change policies and what will be the cost to business of any initiatives you plan to put in place? With the looming possibility of increased costs of doing business due to carbon trading taxes or other environmental strategies, business is finding long-term planning difficult.

Within realistic bounds, businesses require certainty so that plans can be laid and adhered to, securing profits, employment and growth, and that essentially is what we in the business community need to hear from our jostling pollies as they joust for electoral glory over the next month.