Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors, Tourism and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you for the protection of the chair, Mr Deputy Speaker. In other aspects of the Labor Party’s failed small business policy, again Labor’s actions do not match their rhetoric. The Labor Party say that they are concerned about cash flow and about small business costs. I have already demonstrated how the Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Measures No. 1) Bill 2009, which is before the parliament today, does very little for small business and, to the extent that it does assist small business, it will also actually penalise a number of Australian small businesses. I have demonstrated how the government’s investment allowance is basically useless for a lot of small businesses because if they are cash strapped or in a situation where they do not need new plant and equipment it is not going to do anything for them. I note that the member for Lindsay said earlier that he did not really understand the point that the Leader of the Opposition was making—well, that is the point. The Leader of the Opposition made it perfectly clear that for many small businesses Labor’s investment allowance was next to useless. It stands in stark contrast to the coalition’s policy—the proposal of the Leader of the Opposition that the member for Lindsay spoke of—which would not apply only to small businesses that are already cash strapped; that is the key difference.

We get to the all-important issue of what Labor’s policy is doing to business operating costs. We know that at the moment Labor are seeking a whole raft of reforms on industrial relations, a key component of which are moves to modern awards. So far, pharmacies, restaurants and caterers, retailers and newsagents have all come out and said that, as a direct result of Labor’s industrial relations changes, business costs will increase from 10 per cent to 30 per cent and that, at a time when businesses are doing it tough, the only way they can deal with this increased labour impost on their businesses is to shed staff. I say to members opposite: do not take my word for it as the shadow minister; read and understand the press releases from the Newsagents Federation, Restaurant & Catering and the Retailers Association when they say that small-business owners will be shedding jobs because they now face a 10 to 30 per cent increase in their operating costs thanks to Labor’s policies.

The member for Lindsay and other members come into this chamber and wring their hands and say how concerned they are about the employment of Australians, but I say to them: if you were genuinely concerned about employment in this country you would reverse this failed policy that Labor has put forward. There will be thousands, probably tens of thousands, of jobs lost. The restaurant and catering industry alone predicts 8,000 job losses as a result of Labor’s changes. We have members standing up and saying, ‘There were 36 new jobs created in this area.’ But there are going to be 8,000 job losses in that one sector alone. Multiply that across the economy and we are talking about tens of thousands of jobs being destroyed by Labor’s industrial relations changes and their modern awards program. It will be cold comfort to those so-called working families, as the Prime Minister calls them. There are not too many working families under this Labor government. There are plenty of ‘redundancy families’ but there are not too many working families.

I note that the bill provides a regulation-making power to allow the amount of PAYG instalment worked out under section 45-400 to be reduced in the future. Significantly, it does not provide any relief in the permitted margin for error in instalment amount variations. This goes to the central point I was making earlier. If Labor were serious about making it easier for small business then the minister—and I appeal to Minister Emerson at the table—would amend the legislation to increase the margin for error. Allow businesses to have a greater margin for error before the tax office seeks to impose a penalty, because that will improve the policy that is before the House today. This policy is one very small step. It does not do much for small business. But if Labor changed just this aspect of the bill it would make it a little bit easier for small business owners—who might, as I said, be at a distinct disadvantage as a result of this policy—because it would mean they were not going to get whacked with a penalty from the tax office.

As the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill notes:

While taxpayers may vary their instalment amounts calculated and notified by the Commissioner themselves, many are reluctant to do so, as underpayments can trigger—

the general interest charge penalty I spoke about. Again, that is why the coalition’s proposal to increase the margin for error from 15 to 30 per cent would make a significant difference to small businesses right across Australia. The current penalty unreasonably discourages small businesses from using that tool under the PAYG instalment revisions to manage their cash flow. PAYG instalment revisions are an important way that small businesses can manage their cash flow. That is part of the reason they are there—to assist small businesses to manage their cash flow. The last thing we need is for small businesses to face extra penalties as a direct result of Labor’s policy.

It is time that Labor removed themselves from the trade union movement long enough to get a bearing on what is going to directly assist small business. It is not going to be modern awards; it is not going to be loose promises about on-time payments from government—which I know is a very big point for the minister at the table. The Labor Party trumpet how they are the champions of small business because they are going to make sure that the Australia government pays on time. The fascinating thing is that, ever since the Labor Party were elected, on-time payments have gone backwards. Now, fewer small businesses are being paid on time. It is one thing for the Prime Minister to announce, ‘We are going to make sure small businesses are paid on time.’ It is one thing to put that into print. But it is a whole different thing to actually execute that promise. The reality is that things have gotten worse under this Labor government.

Labor in New South Wales, give them long enough, will just stop paying bills altogether. That is what has happened in New South Wales under the Labor Party. If you were a creditor of NSW Health and they ran out of money it would be: ‘Tough luck; we will pay you when we can. It could be in six months.’ We know that it is possibly only a matter of time before federal Labor become the basket case that New South Wales Labor are. At $2 billion per week, they are racking up enough debt to get us there very quickly.

In summary, the coalition acknowledges that the bill before the House will have a small beneficial impact on small business. It could have a much larger beneficial impact on small business if Labor did a couple of simple things such as increasing the margin for error to give small businesses back the tools to make revisions themselves without threat of penalty rather than having a one-size-fits-all, 20 per cent approach. It is okay but it is not great. I hope that Labor will continue to watch coalition policy announcements in the small-business arena so that in the future they might have ideas as well. (Time expired)

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