$16 billion reasons to Back Australia and shop local

Marina Gainulina
08:00am October 27 2025

Katy at Snoot Style (left), the Padovano family at Jonima Flower Farm (middle) and Xanny from Priestley's Gourmet Delights (right) are three Aussie businesses - and Westpac SME customers - that are driving innovation, creating jobs and building community. (Supplied)

What if your weekly grocery shop could help create thousands of jobs, boost the economy and support your neighbour’s small business, all without spending a cent more? 

New modelling from Westpac economics suggests it’s possible. If every Australian household redirected just $100 of their existing weekly budget towards local products and services, the national economy could benefit from a $16 billion lift in nominal GDP and around 38,000 new jobs. 

The ripple effect of buying local is a tangible opportunity to back Australia, and it starts with how we spend. 

Here's how it would play out. According to Westpac’s economists, more than a third of the first-round economic gains would flow directly to industries dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Think retail, manufacturing, hospitality - the sectors where local businesses are often the lifeblood of communities. 

Paul Fowler, Westpac’s Chief Executive of Business & Wealth, says the impact of choosing local goes far beyond the checkout. 

“Australia is home to world-class innovators, farmers, winemakers, manufacturers and service providers who are making an impact globally. 

“When you choose to spend locally, you’re not just buying a product or service - you’re investing in jobs, supporting your neighbours and helping communities flourish,” Fowler says. 

From flower farms to fashion start-ups, the results are stitched into the fabric of local economies. 

Like Katy at Snoot Style, who left corporate fashion to create sustainable dog coats - now selling in Japan.  

Then there’s the Padovano family at Jonima Flower Farm, three generations growing seasonal blooms and supplying Sydney’s florists.  And Xanny from Priestley's Gourmet Delights, who started in her aunt's business, delivering cakes in the back of a station wagon. Now, she's Australia's biggest dessert manufacturer, using a first-of-its-kind AI-powered factory. 

These are just a few of the thousands of businesses driving innovation, creating jobs and building community - often with little fanfare, but big impact.

At a time of increased economic pressures, consumers can rest assured the investing in home-grown brands isn't a call to spend more, but instead a call to arms to redirect spending with intent. 

“Every dollar you spend with an Australian business has a multiplier effect. Not only does that dollar pay the wages of the business, it travels down the supply chain benefiting other Australian businesses,” Fowler says.

“If you buy a coffee and cookie at your local café, for example, you’re not only helping to pay the wages of the workers in that café, you’re supporting the dairy farmer who produced the milk, the manufacturer who baked the cookie, and the farmers who supplied the eggs, sugar and flour to make that cookie."

It’s about making conscious choices. Swapping imported goods for Aussie-made. Choosing the local café over the global chain. Such small shifts, multiplied across millions of households, could help build a stronger, more resilient economy for the benefit of all. 

In a time when budgets are tight and trust matters more than ever, backing local might just be the smartest collective investment we can make. 

Marina Gainulina

Marina Gainulina is a Content Producer for Westpac Wire, with ten years of experience in marketing communications. She holds a Bachelor of Communications & Media (Journalism) degree and a drive to connect with discerning audiences via authentic storytelling across mediums. She has managed editorial and brand comms for the likes of Tiffany & Co., Hugo Boss, NIVEA and GRAZIA.

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