The Australian business community has sent a clear signal to the government that it is fed up with the current political stalemate, after a survey found business confidence is at a 23-year low.

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The survey was conducted by one of Australia’s most prominent business lobby groups, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). In a powerfully worded statement, ACCI chief executive Kate Carnell said:

“Business owners are feeling pretty grim at the moment after a fairly bleak Christmas period. We saw a glimmer of hope in the middle of the year with a slight upturn in conditions, but that has now been reversed.”

Ms Carnell said ACCI’s latest survey on investor confidence shows profitability figures are the worst they’ve seen in the 23-year history of the survey.

“Generally speaking, the climate for investment is terrible at present and businesses don’t see much need to expand their capacity,” she said.

“We need the government and the Parliament to act to restore business confidence by fixing the budget and undertaking productivity-enhancing structural reforms. We also call on the RBA to put rate cuts back on the table.”

Ms Carnell told The New Daily that “politicking” in the Senate was having an impact on jobs and employment.

“The approach in the Senate is impacting on business confidence and consumer confidence. Businesses like to know where things are heading.”

She said that policy certainty is better than the stalemate of the last few months, even if the policies enacted are not those that the business community would choose.

Ms Carnell also told The New Daily the ACCI supports a reform of the Fair Work Act to give businesses more hiring “flexibility”. She said businesses are responding to the current regime by not hiring at all, which she said is “not in anyone’s interest.”

However, Ms Carnell conceded that a recent uptick in employment figures may suggest things aren’t as bad as they looked in December, when the survey was conducted. “It will be interesting to see what the next quarter shows.”

The Survey had 641 respondents, who are mainly from construction and manufacturing industries.