Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports the proposal to let small businesses instantly write off assets worth up to $20,000, and we could not have been clearer about this.

Mr Katter interjecting—

On budget night, my colleague the shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen, directly and firmly stated:

… of course we will support more tax support for small business.

Mr Katter interjecting—

As the government knows, tax measures, when announced—it is curious: the member for Kennedy does not seem to be following his mother's advice right now. On budget night, the shadow Treasurer announced that Labor would be supporting this package, and, as the government knows, the Australian Taxation Office administers tax laws as though they had been immediately enacted upon announcement; it ensures that parties do not somehow make use of a sudden loophole. So, had the coalition not suggested to the Australian people that there was any uncertainty over Labor's support for this package, their announcement could have had full stimulatory effect, but, because they have spent the last week since budget night scaremongering and peddling the falsehood that Labor will not pass the small business package, they are beginning to undermine the stimulatory effect of their own package. It is extraordinary that, at a time when Australians are concerned about confidence—when they are looking for certainty—this parliament has one of the major parties saying they were going to support a small business tax measure, and yet we have the other party suggesting that there is not bipartisan support. The Australian Taxation Office will administer this law as though it had been immediately enacted, and the only risk to confidence is from the Abbott government themselves. But if they want this passed quickly, passed quickly it can be.

Today we have seen absolute hypocrisy, despite the fact that last week in question time we saw Bruce Billson saying:

The only thing people are uncertain about is whether Labor are going to muck around with this. Are they going to stand in the road? Labor, you did not do anything for small business when in office.

He forgets about the instant asset write-off as he says that.

Make sure you get behind this package and secure its early, safe and certain passage.

As the Prime Minister said on Monday:

Let us pass this bill straight away.

The same challenge was handed down by the Treasurer in question time on Monday:

This legislation is going to go through the House of Representatives this week …

And then he said:

I lay down the challenge to the Labor Party: help us to get that legislation through the Senate as quickly as possible.

Yet, despite saying that they were absolutely keen for this bill to be off and racing towards the Senate, they passed up the chance to have it stamped, signed and delivered to the Senate before lunchtime today. Instead, we have the extraordinary spectacle of the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, coming in here to vote against his own package going to the Senate. That is how extraordinary it is.

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