Last week the Federal budget was handed down in Canberra and while most of the focus was on the energy crisis, there were some wins for businesses. There were big wins in the areas of transport infrastructure and manufacturing, which will give much-needed help to medium to large enterprises. Australia has made it through a couple of tough years and hopefully, things will be on the rise again soon. Let’s take a look at the 5 key business takeaways from the October 2022 Federal budget.
Major incentives in manufacturing
The Government put forward serious investment in manufacturing, with a spend of $135.5 million over the next four years. This directly supports manufacturing and the upskilling of staff in the manufacturing sector. The key spending includes $113.6 million to strengthen homegrown manufacturing in regional areas, as well as securing and supporting new workers. In addition, $1.6 million will go towards compulsory labelling of “Country of Origin” for the Australian seafood industry.
There was a strong focus on supporting regional manufacturing, with incentives such as a pilot Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub on the Central Coast of New South Wales, which was allocated $17.2 million.
Big increase in transport infrastructure
COVID-19 restrictions proved that transport infrastructure needs a major overhaul. We saw supply chains break down, increasing wait times for most supplies and products. The total budget for transport infrastructure is more than $120 billion over the next 10 years. This includes $3.1 billion to the Melbourne Intermodal Rail Terminal Package, as well as $2.7 billion in rail extensions in Queensland from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.
In addition, the Government is allocating an additional $880 million to the Roads of Strategic Importance and $500 million for the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program, which means local councils around Australia can start priority road projects to stimulate local economies.
Further 1.5 million NBN connections in the next three years
More businesses will soon be able to access the infrastructure they need to increase digital capability and connectivity, with a further 1.5 million premises to get fibre-ready access by 2025. If unreliable internet has limited your business’s ability to use digital systems, now might be a good time to start planning a computer upgrade for your systems.
Investment in skilled migrants
COVID-19 kept our borders closed for close to two years, and this impacted many businesses struggling to keep staff onboard, creating big labour shortages. $42.2 million will be invested over two years to speed up the visa processing time for skilled migrant visa applications.
NewAccess for Small Business Owners – free mental health service
In the last few years business owners have struggled, and the budget has assigned a $10.9 million investment to Beyond Blue to aid in supporting mental health in small businesses.
The new free service – NewAccess for Small Business Owners – which doesn’t require a GP referral. In addition, $4 million has been allocated to a Small Business Debt Helpline, which is a free service operated by Financial Counselling Australia, to help business owners manage debt.
If you’ve been facing stress or struggling in your business, please take the time to make the most of these services.
Look back on what the Coalition delivered in March 2022:
