Community
30 August, 2026
Business concerns in the spotlight
LOCAL business owners had the opportunity to air their concerns and challenges when Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price paid a visit earlier this week.
At the invitation of Federal Member for Wannon Dan Tehan, the Shadow Minister for Small Business (and for Skills and Training) took time to chat with locals during a special ‘round table’ discussion at City Memorial Bowls Club on Monday afternoon.
“We discussed the Coalition’s plan to support small businesses, cut red tape and back the local businesses that keep our communities alive,” Mr Tehan said.
And their plight wasn’t lost on the visiting Senator.
“During our travels around Warrnambool today we’re hearing the same things over and over again; the difficulty of running a small business these days is getting greater and greater,” Senator Price said.
“There is so much red tape, so much paperwork; the compliance burdens these small businesses face and the paperwork they have to deal with constantly is just making things so challenging.
“Then there’s the workforce labour shortage that is a big issue across many business sectors.”
The Senator believes that one of the biggest competitors for many small businesses is the government itself.
“NDIS is a huge issue for many who are losing staff because they want to go out and start up a new NDIS business or something like that.
“And when it comes to construction or civil construction small businesses are competing with big government projects where the conditions of pay for workers is a lot better than what small businesses can offer so effectively their staff are being dragged away from them and towards these big projects.
“There’s no doubt that many small businesses are doing it tough. Some are struggling through start-up pains while others are counting the cost of skyrocketing fees, taxes and charges.
“We need to help those sectors that require workers and we need to ensure that their concerns are heard and addressed.”
