02/09/2026
This is an email we sent to goverment venting our disappointment if bad policies that are destroying small buisness is there anything I missed or is there more I can add to get a result
I'm sure every buisness is having the same issues
I am writing to you with the utmost urgency as the owner and operator of a 100% Australian manufacturing business, proudly producing flagpoles, flags, and sporting goals using only Australian materials and components. For over 35 years I have built this business, employed locals, and supported our economy — yet today, government policy is driving my company to the edge of collapse.
Despite advertising repeatedly across every major platform and offering above-award wages, the calibre of applicants is unacceptable and unemployable. We are flooded with candidates who have no trade skills, minimal or no English, severe alcohol or drug dependencies, and zero work ethic. Worse still — many demand $50+ per hour with no qualifications, yet refuse to show up on time, communicate, or perform basic duties. No-shows, zero notification, and treating employment as optional is now the norm.
This is not a labour shortage — it is a government-created crisis. Your administration pays people more to stay home than to work. Why would anyone take a job when the taxpayer funds them to do nothing? The welfare system has become a lifestyle choice, not a safety net. It is destroying Australian enterprise.
I call on you to implement immediate, mandatory National Defence & Community Service for all working-age welfare recipients who cannot demonstrate legitimate medical incapacity. Every person receiving taxpayer support must serve — whether in the Australian Defence Force reserves, critical infrastructure projects, community maintenance, emergency services support, or land care — as a condition of payment. No contribution = no support. This will build discipline, skills, work readiness, and national pride — and push people into real work.
Furthermore, the lack of vetted, work-ready migrants is crippling us. Migrants who refuse or are unable to work and contribute — yet access Centrelink, Medicare, and housing support — must have benefits cut immediately. If they have not contributed and will not contribute, they should not remain in this country. Our generosity is being exploited.
Let me be crystal clear on the human cost of your inaction: I am in end-stage kidney failure and undergo dialysis every week — yet I am at work every single day, out of bed before dawn, fighting to keep this Australian business alive. If I — a sick man on a medical machine — can show up, there is no excuse for anyone else to refuse. It is unjust, unacceptable, and unsustainable that I must do the work of three people while fighting for my health, simply because your policies reward idleness over industry.
Minister, this is the final warning. I demand that your Government take these steps without delay:
- ✅ Implement Mandatory National Defence & Community Service for all working-age payment recipients — Defence reserve, public works, infrastructure, environmental projects, or emergency readiness — in exchange for support. No work, no payment.
- ✅ Slash welfare rates to ensure work always pays significantly more than sitting idle.
- ✅ Rigorous, independent medical assessments for every recipient — no more faking illness to avoid work.
- ✅ Reform migration intake to prioritise skilled, work-ready, vetted contributors — zero benefits for anyone unwilling to work; review residency where there is no contribution.
- ✅ End the "work for the dole" pretence — replace it with real, disciplined, nationally organised service that builds capability and pride.
If you do not act — I will close my doors permanently. Another 100% Australian manufacturer gone. Local jobs lost. Local materials unused. The flagpoles we built to fly the Australian flag will be made overseas instead. That is the legacy of your policies — weak, uncompetitive, and un-Australian.
I expect a direct response outlining your concrete plans to implement mandatory National Defence Service and restore the dignity of work. Australian businesses and Australian taxpayers deserve no less.
Yours faithfully,
Justin r merrett]
Owner & Director
Aaa australian flagpoles and flags
0400552663 [email protected]
Boronia victoria
