Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The former Treasurer was given heaps of opportunity to stand up for small business that was being squeezed by creeping acquisition. It was being squeezed by big businesses pricing deliberately in a way to squeeze out small business. Did you ever stand up for small businesses and make TPA reform a priority? No, it took this government to do it. I am proud that the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer was heavily involved in the formation of the Australian consumer law, the successor law to the TPA. I am proud of the fact that this government has been involved in championing small business in this way.

The member for Dunkley reached into the MPI vending machine and it was his turn today to get an MPI and talk about small business. The parliamentary secretary and I had to listen to him going on about IP Australia, about patents and about businesses being squeezed by multinationals on patents. Again, this matter has been hanging around for years. Those opposite had a chance to strengthen this and to give teeth to IP Australia. Did they do anything? No, not a zip. In the last month or so we have had the changes to the business names registration act, a great move to ensure that wherever you set up a small business in this country you do not have to wade through paperwork that might be different from state to state, with registration fees that might differ from state to state. We gave strength to the process by including ASIC as the watchdog. We have done all that. It is cooperative federalism at work, and we did it. They never did, but we did—it was done in the last month. And last night we introduced a massive shot in the arm for small business: a $6,500 instant asset tax write-off. That was delivered by a Labor government. It was never, ever given by them and was voted against by them.

They are chopping and changing on policy, one minute saying that they will oppose, for example, the superannuation changes that we have put in, then in the next minute supporting them, and then last night opposing them again. How can small business have any confidence in the member for Dunkley? The member for Dunkley was going around telling us that the world would end because of these changes to superannuation and saying that small business would suffer. Then all of a sudden, without any consultation, the Leader of the Opposition supports the changes to superannuation. What a voice for small business in the frontbench of the opposition when he cannot win on it.

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