The new Prime Minister told the National Press Club yesterday that he planned to boost productivity and foster better relations between business and unions.

He said he wanted to deliver reform in industrial relations, red tape, power prices, training and infrastructure.

Susan Heaney, who is president of the Printing Industries Association of Australia (PIAA) and managing director of Heaneys Performers in Print, said Labor's decision to replace Julia Gillard with Rudd would make no difference to printers.

"The fact of the matter is there will be no change; Labor is Labor, and it will continue on its path of crushing small business and the manufacturing industry out of existence," she told ProPrint.

"Gillard or Rudd – it just doesn’t matter. The country needs a new government that will simplify the way of doing business, cut red tape, and be more business friendly."

[Related: Small printers call for govt support]

It seems most ProPrint readers are unmoved by Labor's leadership change: of the 286 who voted in our online poll, 74% of respondents said it would not make any significant difference for the industry.

Heaney said one positive result of the change of Prime Minister was that it had seen former industry minister Kim Carr return to the portfolio he held from 2007-11.

"At least under his stewardship, there was an effort, from him down, to at least try and engage with the print industry," she said.

PIAA chief executive Bill Healey also welcomed Carr's promotion from the backbench.

"The return of Kim Carr into the industry portfolio is something that we value because we've found that Kim was a strong supporter of the industry. However, the realities are that people feel that the sooner the election is held the better," he told ProPrint.

GASA committee member and Look Print chief executive David Leach called on Rudd to support the small businesses that make up the majority of the industry.

"I would hope that Rudd would be more sensitive to having a relationship with business and manufacturing that would encourage those sectors to maintain an Australian presence and employment," he told ProPrint.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said businesses wanted "new directions" on workplace relations, skills, infrastructure, research and development and pricing carbon.

"A big priority for any government should be to boost our productivity and reduce costs and regulation for business," said Willox.

[LinkedIn: Are business taxes too high or just right?]

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