Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Finance Minister on Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I will remind the member for Casey that he ought to stick up for the 19,242 small businesses in his electorate, every one of them being denied a small business tax break because the member for Casey and his colleagues intend to vote against a tax break for small businesses. They are the forgotten people all right. The Liberal Party have forgotten the small business people, the shopkeepers and small business owners of this country because they want to deny them a tax break. They do not believe in small business. They voted against the stimulus package, they completely opposed the stimulus package, they are against our tradies, they are against the shopkeepers and they are against all the small businesses in this country.

We had the shadow minister for small business daring me to talk about paid parental leave. I will talk about it because the Leader of the Opposition has come up with a great big new tax on everything you buy—that is, a 1.7 per cent increase in the company tax rate for larger businesses which we passed on to every small business in the country, to the 19,242 small businesses in this country—when the member ought to be sticking up for small business. But he is sticking it up small business because he wants to apply the flow-on from that paid parental leave great big new tax on everything you buy to the 19,242 small businesses in this country. He wants to deny every small business company in his electorate a head-start reduction in the company tax rate. All he wants to do is increase taxes on small business.

They have the temerity to come in here and say, ‘We are supporting small business.’ All you are doing is supporting an increase in taxation on small business. As I said in question time, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. What happened to the once great Liberal Party that used to stick up for small business and now have abandoned them in their time of need? You are a complete disgrace to this House and a complete disgrace to the traditions of the Liberal Party. It proves yet again that the Rudd Labor government is the best friend that small business has ever had and will be the only friend that small business will ever have if you wantonly abandon the small business community of this country in their hour of need during the global financial recession. Now, when they want a bit of support during the recovery, you are prepared to abandon them yet again. You are a complete disgrace and should be ashamed of yourselves.

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