Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Oxley for bringing this motion to the House because at the end of the day it allows us to reflect on what this new government is doing in comparison to what the previous Labor government failed to do. I note that the member himself had previously made the comment that the former Labor government was committed to providing certainty and confidence in the franchising sector. I am most pleased to hear that, because I am sure there are plenty of us in this House who would be more than happy to see some certainty, stability and clarity brought to the franchising sector for the benefit of both franchisors and franchisees.

To reflect on the member's motion, the Wein review into the franchising code was handed to the previous government at the end of April last year. On reflection, the previous government had those recommendations in hand for at least five months before there was a change of government. Yet at the end of the day it is only now when they are in opposition that they push for some urgency on this issue. But I think it is worth reflecting on their record of urgency in any number of matters on which we are now having royal commissions and other investigations and reviews because of inordinate waste, incorrect drafting of legislation—all manner of things that in their haste to implement they got wrong. I think it is quite prudent on our part as the new government to ensure that we treat these recommendations with the consideration that they deserve to ensure that as they are implemented they are implemented in a manner that works for all concerned.

However, we welcome what appear to be the first signs of enthusiasm for improving and enhancing the franchise sector. The franchise sector would be feeling relieved to know that these important reforms are now being left for the coalition to implement, because we understand small business and the franchisee sector.

We understand the enormity of the contribution small businesses make to our communities and to our economy. We know that small business employ around 4.6 million Australians, accounting for 43 per cent of private sector employment. We know that under Labor, 412,000 jobs were lost in small business alone while the number of employing small businesses declined by 3,000.

In Forde, the fall in this sector has had a huge impact on the higher than national average unemployment rate, as the small business sector is the largest employer in the electorate. The member's motion has drawn attention to our action for small business over the past six months, and I would like to thank him for providing this opportunity to restate some of the decisions we have already taken for the benefit of our small business sector.

We have appointed a Minister for Small Business in cabinet and moved small business from Industry to Treasury. We have moved to protect the privacy of home based businesses on the Business Names Register and implemented a dedicated small business support line with Fair Work. We are in the process of a root and branch review of competition laws, and this has commenced with the release of draft terms of reference. We also passed legislation to remove the carbon tax and we introduced new assistance to small businesses affected by natural disasters in the form of concessional loans of up to $100,000, which will be administered by state and territory governments. We have introduced legislation to remove 10,000 regulations and acts of parliament to cut unnecessary red tape—the largest single bulk repeal in the Commonwealth's history. Work has also commenced on building the roads of the 21st century, because we know that small business people and self-employed people, many of whom are franchisees, know that sitting in traffic jams does nothing to improve the productivity or profitability of their businesses.

These are our efforts to date. So what did the Labor government achieve for small business in the first six months of their government six years ago? Not much really, and to top it off down the track they sought to strangle small business with more red tape and more taxes. It was only in 2012 that they put a minister into cabinet. Only the coalition can reform the code so that the sector will grow and provide employment opportunities for Australians.

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