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

I thank the member for Corangamite for his question and his interest in more than 15,000 small businesses in his electorate. The budget announced by the Treasurer delivers for small business in this country. The budget, firstly, returns us to surplus. That is important. The budget, secondly, spreads the benefits of the mining boom. That is also a very important factor in providing support for small business. Indeed, there are specific measures to ensure that small businesses, incorporated or otherwise, are in a position to have an environment in which they can thrive.

The budget surplus is very important because it gives the Reserve Bank the opportunity, if it so chooses, to lower the official cash rates. Recently we saw a 50-basis point reduction of the official cash rate. That effectively means we now have an official cash rate that is lower than at any time during the Howard years. That provides opportunities for small business to access credit and provides confidence that that can happen more effectively for those businesses in need of credit. The budget surplus also provides a buffer for our economy against any possible future international economic shock. Again, this is a very important thing and it was remarked upon by the OECD this week as being a very effective way of protecting ourselves against any future shock.

This budget also provides some very specific initiatives to help the more than 2½ million small businesses in this country that employ almost five million Australians. We have the loss carryback initiative which provides direct benefits for up to 110,000 companies. That will allow them to invest and innovate. It also provides confidence for those businesses who may not be directly benefiting but know that if they end up in a loss position for the financial year they will be able to claim the refund of taxes paid previously. The instant asset tax write-off is a very good initiative for cash flow. It allows for the purchasing of each and every asset up to $6,500. This has also been well received by COSBOA and others in the small business community and provides great opportunities for small businesses.

The Leader of the Opposition is on the record opposing a company tax cut entirely and also opposing the tax cut for businesses that we were proposing to introduce. This is a shameful thing for a Liberal leader who pretends to support small business. What is even worse is that this Leader of the Opposition wants to take the tax relief for small business in the budget and give it back to Clive Palmer, give it back to Gina Rinehart. The Leader of the Opposition has no regard for small business in this country. (Time expired)

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