According to surveys conducted by the Australian Industry Group, 70 per cent of the 364 businesses surveyed said reducing the tax burden was one of their top three priorities for the Budget.
Increasing spending on infrastructure and calling for the Government to bring the Budget into balance over the next five years were also ranked as high priorities.
Among the business community there were high priorities placed on increasing the spending on training and apprentices and raising tax incentives for industry research and development.
Innes Willox, Ai Group chief executive highlighted two key messages of the Australian Industry Group survey as being a strong emphasis on creating the right environment for businesses to lift investment and improve productivity, while consolidating the budgetary position in a measured way.