Every business owner I talk to, bar none, is fully strung out at the moment. With the lag time of business confidence to economic downturn, we are in for hard times ahead. Recruiting less because IR compliance and cost has got too hard means unemployment ahead. Investing less because of the outrageous inflation on equipment, combined with high financing costs, means lower productivity ahead. Downscaling to manage stress from all the above means reduced income, and therefore reduced tax revenue for the government. Market failure from reduced private sector viability means government will invade the market even further - which means they will spend even more. When small businesses struggle, Australia struggles soon behind it. There is just no way this government has the will, the capacity or the talent to turn this careering titanic around. Democracy fails when the majority of voters are insulated by government largesse from the true wreckage happening around them, which is the only explanation I can find for Labor continuing to get elected. Inexplicably persecuting small business while racking up record government debt is a guaranteed path to ruin. Who do you believe will turn it around, and more importantly, how are they going to get elected?