A salon owner has gone viral after unleashing a furious rant over the “slaughtering” of small businesses like her own.
Luxe Label owner Krystal Solera said she does not usually share her political opinions online, but felt she had no choice after being left so “scared” and “angry” she considered closing the doors of her business for the first time.
She said she feels her Western Australian business has been bled by the government, despite creating jobs and paying tax.
Solera took to Instagram, where she has 100,000 followers, to rip into the government.
“Every quarter there’s another deadline, another bill, another increase, another f***ing thing we have to comply with and a penalty waiting if we don’t,” she wrote at the start of a lengthy post.
Solera listed payday super, 12 per cent super payroll tax, workers comp, “more f***ing insurance”, award increases, BAS and STP as some contributing factors.
“We employ people. We pay wages. We pay super. We pay tax. We collect GST for you. We pay payroll tax for the f***ing privilege of employing MORE people,” she wrote.
Solera described her view that the government is “slaughtering [small businesses] and bleeding us all dry”.
“Then Albanese stands there carrying on about ‘supporting small business’ WHERE?”
The owner took aim at the incentives that have been offered to small business owners, claiming that the $325 power credit does not “touch” a wage bill.
“A 20k instant asset write of?? WITH WHAT F***ING MONEY ARE WE BUYING ASSETS?”
“We are a third of the economy.
“When you bleed us to the brink of closing, you don’t just lose a salon or a trade, you lose everyone we were going to train.”
Solera took issue with what she called the government’s neglect of apprentices over the past year.
In the May budget, the government announced further upcoming cuts to apprentice employer incentives, which Solera says is already stopping businesses hiring and training people.
“You cannot scream about a labour shortage while making it impossible for the people who train the workforce to stay open,” she wrote.
“I love this country.
“I love my home. I’ve been proud to be Australian my whole life.
“I employ staff and paid MILLIONS in tax.
“I have never thought harder about shutting the doors and leaving.”
Australian comedian Dave Hughes, who has regularly spoken out against the Albanese government, tagged politicians in his comment on the video, asking them to “please get out of your bubble and listen to honest people trying to make honest livings.”
Solera told News.com.au that she felt implored to make the post after reading up numbers from the ATO on small businesses.
“I got sick of feeling it without understanding it, so I went and read the actual numbers,” she said.
“I wrote the post for every other owner lying awake over the same things thinking it was just them.”