Illawarra Business Chamber: Federal Budget must provide certainty for employers, consumers and jobseekers

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Illawarra Business Chamber executive director Adam Zarth said that the government has a difficult task in balancing support for businesses and individuals experiencing widely varying conditions across different states, regions and sectors, but that maintaining confidence would be key to recovery.

"As a diversified regional economy, the Illawarra is tracking well on all available indicators to recover in line with the rest of the state of NSW, although we have a stronger reliance on JobKeeper with 47 percent of businesses registered against a state figure of 41 percent," Mr Zarth said.

"This budget must boost business confidence, and encourage them to trade, employ and invest throughout the COVID-19 recovery. I welcome the measures that have been foreshadowed, including tax relief, wage subsidies for apprentices and support for key manufacturing sectors.

"Consumer confidence must be supported to keep people spending, which in turn supports small business. Income tax cuts will put more money back into people's pockets, and the government has also committed to maintaining fiscal support in the economy until a six percent unemployment rate is restored.

"This was in response to our call, and will provide people with confidence that they will continue to benefit from government support as long as is required."

Mr Zarth said state and local governments had already brought forward infrastructure projects and welcomed the foreshadowed measure that would see federal funding provided on a 'use it or lose it' basis.

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