Never shy about playing the victim, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) has unveiled a new television and social media campaign to counter what it claims is a rising tide of anti-business sentiment, stoked by “well-resourced critics” – GetUp and the unions. From The Australian:
The Business Council of Australia campaign “will seek to interrupt the anti-business conversation” by reminding audiences that 86 per cent of Australians who have a job work for a business.
“The business community has become an easy target,” the BCA said.
“We cannot sit back and allow Australians to only see the negatives and forget about our workers. Overwhelmingly, business is a force for good.”
The move comes as grassroots activist groups like GetUp and the unions wage multimillion-dollar campaigns on business power and corporate taxes.
“The anti-business forces have a significant campaign advantage today in terms of organisation, communication and data collection,” the BCA said. “Anti-business campaigners have more money and better tools.”
The business lobby believes Labor is running an anti-business agenda, while the Coalition has also angered CEOs with its $6bn bank levy.
The BCA said it had refocused its efforts, crafting its own grassroots campaign — complete with social media hashtags — to give voice to employees, suppliers and their supporters.
It declined to put a value on the campaign, but said it hoped to reach every Australian over the next 12 months through television ads, televised community forums, and social media content.
What does the BCA expect when it frequently makes ridiculous statements like “Australia’s high company tax rate is wage theft on a grand scale”?
Instead of wasting its resources on this campaign, the BCA would do well to heed the advice of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) head, Elizabeth Proust, who at the start of this month appeared on ABC’s The Business and accused the BCA of blatant self-interest in demanding company tax cuts at the same time as wages growth is low, and households are feeling the pinch from rising energy and housing costs (thanks to president Grant King’s previous work at the Gas Cartel). Proust also warned that the BCA’s blatant self-interest is eroding the Australian people’s trust in business.
She was spot on.
