Australian gov't welcomes small business confidence rebound

The Australian Coalition government said in a statement on Monday that they welcomed a new report showing Australian small business confidence rebounding following the election.

The fifth annual Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey from Certified Practicing Accountants Australia, one of the world's largest accounting bodies, showed around one in five Australian small businesses expect to employ more people in 2014 and a significant proportion expect to invest in new assets over the next 12 months.

According to a statement from Minister for Small Business Bruce Billson, the government is keen to arrest the deterioration in the small business environment as the country look beyond the mining boom.

"Labor oversaw a period where 412,000 jobs were lost in small business while the number of employing small businesses declined by 3,000," he said. "Small business will play an integral role in the over the horizon economy but that needs to be nurtured by a strong and sensible government as recommended in this survey."

"This is why the Coalition has moved to axe the carbon tax, reduce company tax and cut 1 billion AU dollars (almost 920 million U.S. dollars) worth of red-tape out of the economy to make our businesses more competitive and productive," he added.

The Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey 2013 is part of a longitudinal study underway since 2009, designed to take the temperature of small businesses throughout the Asia Pacific, Billson said.