SENATOR DEAN SMITH
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY
SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA
MEDIA RELEASE
MORE THAN 1,200 WA BUSINESSES INSOLVENT AS LABOR’S COST OF DOING BUSINESS CRISIS BITES
Nearly three years of elevated interest rates under the Albanese Government has fueled one of the most severe cost of doing business crises Western Australia has experienced – driving a massive rise in the number of businesses collapsing.
Latest figures from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reveal that 1,222 businesses across the state entered insolvency between January and December 2024.
This represents a 42 percent increase in WA insolvencies compared to 2023.
The data confirms what many local entrepreneurs know only too well – that the rate of insolvencies in Western Australia is accelerating as more and more small businesses struggle to cope with persistent high interest rates and tightening consumer spending.
There were 351 insolvencies during the December 2024 quarter, a jump of 142 percent on the 145 insolvencies in the March 2022 quarter.
ASIC figures also indicate that businesses in the construction and accommodation/food categories were hit hardest, accounting for 32.4 percent – or nearly one-third – of all company insolvencies in Western Australia last year.
Significant Government spending at both Federal and State levels has to an extent masked the true impact of the crisis on small businesses, which remain the main drivers of jobs growth in Australia.
As a result of this public spending, more than 80 percent of jobs filled in the past two years have been in Australia’s public service, health, and education.
The Australian Government has added over 26,000 new permanent public service positions since Labor’s election, contributing to a 23 percent increase in the wages bill since June 2022.
This Government spending is not financially sustainable and long term, sustainable jobs will only be created in an environment where the private sector is thriving.
WA’s confronting, rapidly increasing business insolvency rate is proof positive that is not the case under Anthony Albanese and Labor.
Comments attributable to Senator Dean Smith:
“Western Australian businesses have battled difficult operating conditions for years under Labor, but the scale of these insolvencies leaves no doubt the situation has badly deteriorated – we are in a full blown cost of doing business crisis.”
“These are not just numbers, either. They are real WA businesses, real WA jobs, and real WA households being impacted.”
“Contrary to the promise Anthony Albanese made in Perth in May 2022, things have not been easier under his Government – higher interest rates, skyrocketing overheads, weak consumer confidence and overregulation are what Labor has delivered businesses in Western Australia”
“Those businesses realise, and the data confirms, that the economy is stagnating while Labor throws more and more money into growing the bureaucracy instead of the private sector.”
“That will not be the case under a Dutton-led Coalition Government, with our plan to back small business, cut Government waste and get Australia back on track.”
ENDS