$40,000 fuel bill puts pressure on family business

Michael Blackwood, owner of Blackwoods Readymix and Garden Supplies, raised the pressures facing his business when Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and Monash MP Mary Aldred visited on Wednesday, 30 September.

For Mr Blackwood, fuel is at the heart of the problem. Beyond the cost of running his own operations, he said suppliers’ fuel levies added to the price of materials, creating costs the business had to pass on.

“All our materials we buy, I’ve got a fuel levy on it as well,” he said.

He estimated those levies were adding about $10 per cubic metre to production costs.

The rising expenses come as Mr Blackwood said building activity had slowed, putting pressure on the business from both directions.

“It’s not what it was four years ago,” he said.

“The way things are going, I think that the politicians just want multinationals. They don’t want small businesses.”

Asked what would help, Mr Blackwood called for the Federal Government to halve fuel excise and take stronger action to bring business costs down.

“The message is just go back to basics. Start cutting costs. Stop being fruitless with the spending.”

Behind his frustration is four decades of work building a business from a small garden supplies operation into the concrete and garden supplies business it is today.

“We’ve been here 40 years,” he said.

“I’d be disappointed if we had to close down.”

Asked whether he saw a brighter future for his business, he said: “No. Not at the moment.”

Mr Blackwood said his concerns extended beyond his own business. He feared mounting pressures would push experienced owners to walk away, leaving fewer independent operators in regional communities.

“The consequence is that small businesses will diminish. It just gets too hard,” he said.

“The biggest problem we’ve got now is that people around my age have been in it for 40-odd years, and they get to have enough, and they just walk away.”

He said independent businesses helped keep markets competitive and warned customers would have fewer choices if larger companies came to dominate.

During the visit, Mr Taylor said a Coalition government, if elected, would work to lower costs, cut red tape and give business owners confidence to invest and employ.