South Australian business confidence has defied a national downturn and remained stable in September, according to the latest NAB Monthly Business Survey.
The independent survey of 1,400 business across the country showed business confidence in SA and NSW remained unchanged last month while confidence in Victoria (-6), Queensland (-3) and Tasmania (-1) all dropped.
This is in stark contrast to the alarmist claims of the Property Council, whose latest quarterly survey of its own members reported an apparent “record” decrease in business confidence, which the organisation linked to the debate over the Government’s land tax reform.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said the independent NAB survey of businesses from a variety of industries offered an important counterview to the fearmongering of an individual membership organisation intent on talking down the state’s economy while pushing its own agenda.
The important difference between the surveys is that the NAB surveys all types of businesses in SA whilst the Property Council only surveys its own members.
“The Property Council has badly misjudged the views of most South Australians on this issue by arrogantly assuming the views of Property Council members are shared by everyone else.
“While the organisation has spent weeks telling anyone who’ll listen that the sky is going to fall in over the Government’s sensible land tax reforms, this independent survey shows that is simply not the case.
“In fact, contrary to the organisation’s alarmist claims that the land tax debate has taken a so-called ‘bulldozer’ to business confidence here, this independent survey shows South Australia is actually defying a national downturn by reporting a stable confidence level.
“This comes at a time when states like Victoria and Queensland report a drop in confidence.
“The Government also welcomes the fact that SA business conditions improved (+3) in September, pushing the state into positive territory – while state’s such as Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland all sustained falls.”
It comes as the Government vehemently rejected the Property Council’s crazy call for a new average annual land tax bill of about $2,000 on more than 200,000 South Australian land owners so its members could pay less tax, as part of its submission on land tax reform.
