Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott says the government needs to lower taxes, lock in skilled workers who are already here, increasing two-year visas to four, and catch up on migration to overcome acute worker shortages.
"What I'm hearing or what I'm seeing on the ground is people just can't get started because they haven't got enough workers, they can't get projects off the ground," she told the ABC on Friday.
The BCA, in its submission to the 2022/23 budget, wants the annual permanent skilled migration cap raised to 220,000 in the next two financial years before reverting to 190,000 in 2024/25.
It also called for the pre-election budget on March 29 to focus on skilling up the workforce.
This includes a new ambitious national skills agreement to better target training to the needs of learners and their employers, and an extension in the Boosting Apprentice Commencement wage subsidy for a further 12 months at a stepped down rate.
"We've got to drive investment, we've got to get investment back into this country (and) that's about better regulation, lowering taxes for small and medium businesses," she said.
"Then we're going to look to the long term - how do we get our capacity going so that we are a stronger economy, increasing our funding to VET (vocational education and training), driving our national precincts, driving clean energy projects by making them more attractive to invest."
She said the answer to speeding up the pace of recovery was not further big spending from government.
"It's about ensuring business can take the baton and drive faster and sustained private sector led growth," she said.
"The country has moved beyond waiting for COVID to reach its end point. We can no longer sit back and wait for a return to normal."
The BCA also wants to encourage more women back into the workforce and help them to advance after having children through a shared carer paid parental leave bonus that supports sharing of parental responsibilities.
Turning to tax, the BCA is calling for support for states that want to progress much-needed tax reform, such as phasing out stamp duty, by providing them with a clear guarantee of no disadvantage in the allocation of GST revenues.
It wants the turnover threshold for the 25 per cent company tax rate raised from $50 million to either $250 million, $500 million or $1 billion.
It also wants, when fiscal conditions permit, the tax rate lowered to 25 per cent for all companies from 30 per cent currently.
At the same time, the BCA is seeking a 20 per cent investment allowance for all companies to provide for more sustained improvements in investment.
It also wants a positive signal sent to foreign investors by introducing a fast-track approvals lane for regular and trusted clients of the Foreign Investment Review Board.
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