Investment numbers released today are a wake up call that we must do more to create jobs to pull ourselves out of the downturn caused by COVID-19 pandemic, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott.
“Business investment equals jobs, and today’s numbers show plans to invest have fallen off a cliff. Investment in Australia was already weak before this crisis, and now non-mining investment has fallen faster than any time since the last recession.
“We’ll need to create millions of new jobs to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic but we cannot do that without urgent action to arrest this decline.
“One practical solution is to introduce a 20 per cent investment allowance for businesses of all sizes to give them the confidence and certainty to start projects, invest and create the jobs we need across the economy.”
“Business investment as a share of the economy is now on track to reach levels not seen since the early 1990s recession, a time many will remember as one of hopelessness and despair for hundreds of thousands of Australians.
“We must urgently act to lift investment across the economy so we can get Australians back to work and start creating new jobs to replace those we’ve lost.
“Our first challenge is to develop the nationally consistent health framework to keep people safe, manage our domestic borders and give businesses clarity they need to plan, put on staff and make investment decisions.
“Once and for all we need to make it easier to do business and get rid of unnecessary red tape, much of which has been put on hold during this crisis, because it is an obvious impediment to doing business.
“Business as usual won’t cut it, we need to dramatically lift investment above pre-COVID levels to create new jobs and put Australia back on track.”
