Small business dark on WA govt

The approval rating of the state government by small and medium enterprises has fallen, making it the second lowest ranked state or territory government across Australia, a business survey has revealed today.

The Business Index survey, undertaken quarterly by Sensis to track and understand the views of small businesses, reported that support for the WA government fell five percentage points, taking the indicator to 22 per cent.

The state ranked higher than the New South Wales government which has now come in at the bottom of the ladder for the 17th successive quarter.

Overall, only 11 per cent of SMEs believe the Western Australian government's policies support the sector, 33 per cent believe they work against them and 56 per cent believe they make no difference.

The key reasons SMEs gave for not supporting the Western Australian Government include a perception there is too much bureaucracy, taxation and stamp duty.

The key reasons SMEs gave for supporting the Western Australian Government include that it is interested in small business, is trying to help small business and has small business management training.

The Northern Territory government recorded the highest approval rating from SMEs, making it the only government in Australia to record a net positive result.

SMEs cited the NT government's small business management training program as the main reason for their support, followed by a perception that the government was more interested in small businesses.

The Queensland government came in second while the Victorian and Tasmanian governments recorded an increase in levels of support by SMEs.

The survey interviewed 1,800 businesses from 28 April to 30 May 2008.