Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Page for her question and her long association with small business. Indeed, she has over 11,000 small businesses in her own electorate. I also thank her for her advocacy for the small business commissioner, something that we have responded to in recent times.

The Gillard government, of course, is committed to helping Australia's 2.7 million small businesses around the country. We are helping them in a number of very important ways. Firstly, there is the reduction in the company tax rate from 30c in the dollar to 29c. Secondly, there are the income tax rates from 1 July for those unincorporated small business owners, who will receive an increase because of the increase in the tax threshold to $18,200. Indeed, I might add that there is also an increase for those who can receive personal tax cuts, if they are an employee of their own company, and also receive the company tax cut. There is the $5,000 write-off for vehicles and the $6½ thousand instant asset tax write-off for assets purchased in that financial year, which is very important. It provides cash flow solutions to problems that may occur from time to time, particularly for microbusinesses, sole traders—those small companies that really need some assistance.

I might add, in relation to the question that was asked earlier by the member for Goldstein, in relation to the $6,500 instant asset tax write-off, that that is for each asset purchased under $6,500, not just one asset, so there could be multiple assets. So this is a great boon for small businesses around the country. It can only be done, of course, because we have enacted the minerals resource rent tax—

Mr Hockey interjecting—

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