Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hardly know where to start here. It is almost a comedy. With one breath, those opposite talk about fiscal responsibility—getting a lesson in fiscal responsibility from that lot is absolutely farcical—and then, with the next breath, they complain about cuts. Anyway, I will not go there, because some of my colleagues have articulated very well the absolute hypocrisy of what those opposite are saying.

I want to focus on some of the great positives out of last night's budget, and I certainly want to start with small business. As the Minister for Small Business said in question time today, coalition MPs have 'small business running through their veins', because our background is small business. My own father ran an electrical business. He had to make decisions about when he would buy the van, when he would buy his capital equipment, when he would employ staff. It is just something that we grew up with. It is something that we understand because we have done it. I actually have some understanding of the other side: they do not understand, because how could they? When that side is simply full of political staffers, union officials and an occasional lawyer, what do you expect? Now, I am not rubbishing any of those occupations. There are places for unionists. There are places for lawyers. There are also places for political staffers. But, when that is the only gene pool you are drawing on, believe you me, you are in big trouble; and they keep showing us, time and again, the trouble they get into because that is the only thing they are drawing on.

Let us talk about the small business package last night. I want to talk about a few things but I am going to run out of time. Do you know why I am going to run out of time, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott? I am going to run out of time because there are so many good things to say about this budget that I will not be able to do it in five minutes. But let me have a go. I will talk about child care. I will talk about taxing multinationals in a fair way. I also want to touch on infrastructure, because the member for Grayndler is living in a strange world, when he talks about the Pacific Highway not getting any extra money in the budget. There is no extra money in there because we have put it all into completely finishing it. Anyway, we will get to that.

Firstly, there has been a lot made of the tax cut for small business since it was announced last night. The tax cut is great for small business. But I can tell you, from understanding small business—having run my own, my parents having run their own—and from speaking to some of my small-business constituents today, the $20,000 tax write-off when you invest in capital for your business is going to be massive. I have spoken to small businesses in my community today that are already planning capital investments and actually buying. They, as everyone wants them to do, are having a go, and we are encouraging them to because we understand, as many people on this side have said before, that small businesses, more so than big businesses, employ more people. They are the lifeblood of the economy. They are the massive employer in this economy.

It is very important to remember—and I like to say it a lot because sometimes I think the people opposite do not understand—that every public welfare dollar that you want, every piece of taxpayer money that you want to give away, has to come from a healthy private sector. We cannot say that enough, because I do not think the other side really understand that. I think activity is going to be picking up very quickly because of that $20,000.

There is a place for government to assist, to give back, to give rebates and to give tax advantages. We all know that for child care, for a working family if you have two or three kids or even one kid going to preschool before they start school, the costs are enormous. We have simplified the system; and, for the vast majority of people, child care, because of the budget, is going to become more affordable. How wonderful is that.

I knew I would run out of time, but let me cover these last two things quickly. Taxing multinationals: again, the other side talk about it; we are doing it. If you earn money here, we are going to tax you here. So there is going to be a great step forward there. In some ways we are leading the whole world—

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