The Minns Labor Government has delivered another blow to the state\u2019s small businesses in its recent Budget by axing funding for the highly successful Service NSW Business Connect program.
Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said small businesses are the engine room of our economy and the backbone of local communities.
\u201cThey\u2019re run by mums and dads, and young entrepreneurs giving it a go.
\u201cCutting support like Business Connect doesn\u2019t just hurt balance sheets; it hurts jobs, confidence, and the next generation of business owners.
\u201cGovernment should be making it easier to succeed, not harder,\u201d Mr Speakman said.
Shadow Minister for Small Business Tim James said the decision to defund the program was short-sighted and deeply damaging.
\u201cThe Minns Labor Government has turned its back on small businesses at a time when they are grappling with soaring costs, weak consumer confidence and economic uncertainty,\u201d Mr James said. \u201cNSW leads the nation in number of business insolvencies.\u201d
Business Connect has supported thousands of small businesses across NSW by providing up to 8 hours of free, one-on-one tailored advice that assists businesses with strategic guidance, digital marketing, financial planning, business resilience and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBusiness Connect has delivered real and tangible assistance to small businesses, but despite positive feedback from small business on the benefits, Labor has pulled out the axe.\u201d
The program is now scheduled to end on 30 September 2025.
\u201cThese cuts will hurt already struggling small businesses. It\u2019s not just a cut to advice, it\u2019s a cut to confidence, innovation and jobs,\u201d Mr James said. \u201cIt\u2019s a cruel irony given Labor\u2019s record spending and growing debt.\u201d
The Liberal and National Opposition is calling on the Minns Labor Government to urgently reverse this decision and commit to continuing to fund Business Connect services.
\u201cSmall business owners deserve better than to be abandoned by the Minns Labor Government,\u201d Mr James said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minns Labor Government has delivered another blow to the state\u2019s small businesses in its recent Budget by axing funding for the highly successful Service NSW Business Connect program. Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said small businesses are the engine room of our economy and the backbone of local communities. \u201cThey\u2019re run by mums and dads, … Continue reading “Minns Labor Government shuts down lifeline for small business owners”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33497,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33496\/revisions\/33497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}