Treasurer Jim Chalmers has played down the record number of business collapses in Australia this calendar year while being grilled on Sunrise about the dire statistic.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) data shows a record 12,405 businesses collapsed between January and November, The Australian reported on Wednesday.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Treasurer Jim Chalmers fronts Sunrise.
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The outlet also reported that 26,000 businesses have collapsed since Labor came to power in the 2022 election, including a record 1442 last month alone.
The ASIC figures showed 6925 construction firms, 4012 hospitality businesses, 1706 retailers and 1329 manufacturers had all hit the wall since June 2022, The Australian reported.
And as the cost-of-living crisis continues to play havoc with the country’s economy, some 930,000 Australians now relying on JobSeeker and Youth Allowance payments — 83,000 higher than at the same time last year.
On Wednesday, Sunrise host Monique Wright put the damning figures to Chalmers.
“Australian businesses collapsing at record numbers at the moment. Why do you think that this is so? 12,000 this year alone, businesses that have closed. Why is that happening?” Wright asked.
“First of all we acknowledge that business conditions are difficult. That’s why in our budgets we have been providing help with energy bills that our opponents didn’t support,” Chalmers said.
“It is why we have been providing tax breaks for small businesses to invest in the sort of capital and kit that they need to be successful because we acknowledge that those business conditions are tough.”
Chalmers then argued the figures were not quite as dire as they appeared.
“As a proportion of businesses, the amount of insolvencies in our economy is actually much lower than the pre-COVID average,” he said.
“It is actually lower than it was under John Howard and, again, this is a point that the Reserve Bank governor has made.
“As a proportion of companies, insolvencies are lower than we have been accustomed to.
“In saying that, that’s not to dismiss the very real pressures that people are under. It is just to provide a bit of additional perspective.”
During the interview, Chalmers was also asked about the $5.5 billion the government will announce for projects “not announced” after handing down the mid-year budget outlook on Tuesday.
“The most important things that people will notice today in the budget update is extra spending in areas like Medicare and medicines and pensions,” Chalmers said.
‘What people will see with the mid-year big update is a really responsible set of books.”
