Treasurer Scott Morrison has taken aim at business leaders, telling them to step up and help sell the virtues of company tax cuts rather than leave the government to do the heavy lifting.
In a week when two business groups expressed concern about the state of politics and the slow pace of much-needed economic reform, the treasurer has hit back, criticising the lack of support the government is getting from big firms to sell its 10-year tax cut plan.
He says Australians readily accept that supporting small and medium-sized businesses is good for the economy and jobs but they remain less convinced about the contributions of larger companies.
"I have raised consistently with large business representatives the need to address the broader collective reputation issues large businesses have with the Australian public that are being cynically exploited by an opportunistic Labor party," he told a banking conference in Sydney on Thursday.
He said the job started by talking with employees and not just relying on the media to convey the message.
"This task cannot be pursued by the government in isolation," he told he told the AFR Banking and Wealth Summit on Thursday.
The parliament passed part of the government's 10-year tax plan last week, agreeing to cut the corporate tax rate for businesses with a turnover up to $50 million.
The tax package that aims for an eventual reduction in the corporate tax rate to 25 per cent for all businesses will remain on the government's agenda.
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson said he was fully aware of the critical role business could play in demonstrating the benefit of pro-enterprise policies to employees and the broader community.
"We have a long history of joining public debate on company tax and other issues impacting business and will continue to do so," Mr Pearson told AAP.
But government frontbencher Zed Seselja said business leaders had to do more than write a letter or opinion piece in a newspaper.
"Business is effectively bringing constantly a knife to a gun fight," he told Sky News.
Labor finance spokesman Jim Chalmers said Mr Morrison should be fixing his own mess just weeks out from the budget rather than engaging in another "red-faced rant".
"It's pathetic," he told reporters in Brisbane.
Australia Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox told the National Press Club on Wednesday there was a "deep and endemic frustration" about the pace of reform and the nature of the political debate.
He said it risked Australia being left behind in the global economy.
Earlier in the week, the Australian Institute of Company Directors warned the country was stuck in "policy limbo and partisan paralysis".
The Business Council of Australia notes polling shows support for the government's enterprise tax plan is higher than either major party's primary vote.
It says all institutions - including business, government and unions - must listen to community concerns and take every reasonable step to address them.
"For business, this means communicating with employees, suppliers, shareholders and communities in the forums that are most relevant to them," a council spokesperson told AAP.
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