"The Prime Minister’s rhetoric backing business is meaningless when his history shows he’s abandoned small business, and his only solution has been more taxes and regulation”, said Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations & Employment and Shadow Minister for Small Business, Tim Wilson, this morning.

Mr Wilson’s comments follow media reports the Prime Minister’s speech at the Australia’s Economic Outlook Summit claims his second term will be a repudiation of his first-term agenda of exploding regulation and more rigid industrial relations laws.

“In a room full of business leaders it is understandable Prime Minister Albanese says all the right things, but history shows Albanese is like a rock star that mispronounces the name of the city midway through their gig: they’re rehearsed hollow words until he gets back on the road to Canberra to add new taxes and regulation”, Mr Wilson said.

“If the government wanted to back small business the first thing they could do is scrap their family savings tax on unsold small business assets held in super”.

“The Albanese government could then stop the massive expansion in regulation that drowns small business, and explosion in Canberra-based jobs all financed by tax paying community small businesses”.

“Instead, the Albanese government has been focused on rigging employment rules to favour their political patrons. They have made it harder for small business to employ people, and harder for Australians to secure flexible work”.

“Small business feels abandoned under this government because they’re treated as an afterthought. If the government wants to back small business to create the next engine room of the economy, they must stop rigging the rules to favour their political patrons, scrap the family savings tax on small business on unsold small business assets in super and start reforming so risk-takers reach for reward”, Mr Wilson said.