Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is great to be able to talk a little bit about some of the benefits for my electorate of Petrie in Queensland and for the whole nation that are being delivered through packages in this budget of 2015-16. There many opportunities not just for the people in my electorate of Petrie but for all Australians. I want quickly to touch on the budget position; I want to touch on families, the environment, small business, domestic violence—there are loads of issues—and projects in my electorate.

I am pleased to say that there is a plan to bring the budget back to surplus. I got involved in the 2013 election because I was terribly disappointed after many years of Labor's appalling financial mismanagement. It is very important that there is a clear plan to bring the budget back to surplus and that, as the Commonwealth government, we spend less than what we earn each year. At the election, the coalition promised to get the budget back under control. We promised to stop the boats, to scrap the job-destroying carbon tax and mining tax, to end the waste of taxpayer money and to build the roads of the 21st century.

We have kept those pledges and we are doing a lot more in this year's budget. I speak directly to families—families in my electorate—in saying that we are committed to supporting you by making child care simpler, more affordable, more flexible and more accessible. As a father of three sons, I know that having children is a blessing, but I also understand that families are faced with costs when parents want to get back into the workforce. This year's budget sees an additional $3.5 billion invested over five years to establish a new and simpler childcare subsidy from 17 July. The subsidy will assist parents in meeting the costs of child care if they are working, looking for work, training, studying or volunteering. This is very important for mothers, in particular, who want to get back into the workforce.

We know that every person who wants to get back into the workforce is a benefit to the government, particularly if they are on Newstart. If they come off Newstart or welfare and are no longer reliant on taxpayers' funding, that is a bid advantage to all taxpayers. Families with incomes of between $65,000 and $170,000 a year will be $1500 a year better off because of the Families Package that the Abbott government has introduced in this year's budget. All parents want the best for their children. It is hard to stay positive, I guess, if you are going back to work and not seeing a great financial reward, and that is where this package will help those families wanting to get back into the workforce. The measures in this year's budget will help parents who are juggling that work and family life balance.

Of course, I also want to acknowledge the pensioners in my electorate of Petrie. As I get around, I talk to a lot of seniors and I know that pensioners and seniors have contributed a lot to this nation over the decades. I am sure members on both sides of the House would agree that we live in the best country in the world—we really do—and a lot of that is due to the legacy that senior Australians have given us. I want to thank them for their contribution as a group and as individuals. I know that many of them also volunteer, and that is worth billions to the economy each year.

The age pension is the government's biggest expense. At something like $44 billion a year, it represents more than 10 per cent of all government spending. But it is an important safety net for many Australians, which is why we need to make sure it is sustainable as our population ages. Since the Abbott government was elected, pensions have continued to rise—and they will continue to rise twice yearly at the higher rate. For individual pensioners, there has been something like a $1,200-a-year increase from September 2013 to where we are now. For couples that are on the full pension, there has been a $2,000 increase since September 2013. I am very pleased to say that. The age pension will continue to rise twice a year, this year and every year, at the highest available indexation rate. We are also increasing the number of assets someone can have at the lower level, which will see a higher pension of around $30 a fortnight for some 170,000 pensioners around Australia, including 50,000 pensioners who will go on to a full pension.

I want to particularly acknowledge the Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison, who consulted widely before this year's budget. I thank him for that. The families and pensioners package that we have delivered is great. I also want to particularly thank him for the support given to a group in my electorate of Petrie, Encircle, that provides domestic violence services and support to victims. It also works with people who inflict domestic violence. I have no tolerance for people who do that. It is an absolute disgrace. We know that two women a week are killed in this country, through murder or manslaughter, because of domestic violence. Frankly, it is a national disgrace. I know there is bipartisan support to see that end. I want to thank the Minister for Social Services for ensuring that Encircle has adequate funding for the services that it provides in the Moreton Bay Regional Council area.

I also want to thank the Treasurer and the Prime Minister for consulting widely on this year's budget. It is a great budget, I am very pleased to say. There are fantastic opportunities for small businesses in my electorate of Petrie and right around the country. There are more than 3,000 small businesses in my electorate and more than two million nationwide. The budget's small business package is the biggest small business initiative in our nation's history. Local small businesses will have the lowest company tax rate for public and private companies since 1967. It will help local employers create jobs. That is what we want to see. We want to see more local jobs created through private enterprise to assist the unemployed, particularly unemployed youth and older Australians, build skills and get back into work.

The company tax rate will be cut for up to 780,000 incorporated businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million. It will go from 30c in the dollar to 28.5c in the dollar. There will also be, from July 2015, a five per cent tax discount for over 1.5 million sole traders, trusts and partnership structures which are unincorporated businesses with an annual turnover of up to $2 million capped at $1,000 through their end-of-year tax return. From right now, small businesses with a turnover below $2 million can claim an immediate tax deduction for tax purposes for every asset they acquire that is valued up to $20,000.

I really want to thank the Minister for Small Business for listening. I acknowledge that the Labor Party implemented a small business tax write-off. But, unfortunately, it was linked to the mining tax, so it was not raising any money. I said to the minister, 'One of the best things that we can do is reinstate a serious instant tax write-off for small business.' Quite frankly, I was shocked that, on budget night, that went up to $20,000 for each small business. It really is great for small business. I was very pleased to hear in question time today that the opposition will support that measure through the Senate, because it will make a big difference for small businesses in my electorate and right around the nation.

So, what does that mean for small businesses? It means that right now they can go out and buy a new vehicle—perhaps at $19,900; you will get a HiLux ute for that—and that cost can be instantly written off before the end of this financial year. It means that they can reward their staff. They might want a new coffee machine, for $3,000, to look after the staff in their small business. They can buy that now and have an instant tax write-off on it. It means that if small businesses in the electorate of Petrie want to install solar panels on their roof—

Debate interrupted.

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