Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise on something—the Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 1) Bill 2015 and cognate bill—that shows the dedication by the coalition to small business and to agriculture. I might take the shadow minister up on some of his issues. I think a department—possibly the mines department—has been moved, by the state Labor government, to his electorate. So the whole idea that he does not believe in moving departments so quickly falls over when there is one in his own backyard. And, of course, we also had the Department of Agriculture that has been moved to Orange. It has not fallen over. It is working quite well at a state level. Another department was moved by the Labor Party down to Nowra. So the rhetoric changes depending on the day. We have policy of the Labor Party right now in Western Australia wanting to move departments to Albany and to Bunbury. So this is quite evident.

Just to take the member for Hunter up on this issue, where we have co-located departments, RDCs, such as in Narrabri, we now have the highest yielding cotton in the world. It has been a success. It has created a centre of excellence. It would have to be called that because if you are the best in the world then what you do speaks for itself. The member for Wakefield talked about how we had to truncate this debate so we did not have to suffer the sins of people droning on. He then proceeded to speak for 15 minutes and was followed up by every other Labor Party member speaking for 15 minutes.

I have been an accountant much longer than I have ever been a parliamentarian. My life in small business was how I got ahead. I still have a small business. My wife and I are cattle and sheep producers now. What we do has been built on a foundation of lived experience. On our side of the chamber, I am proud of the fact that we have people who have actually been in business, who have actually had that fear that comes on a Friday evening—and, no doubt, Deputy Speaker Kelly, you have done this yourself—of working out where the wages are going to come from. That is a sense of realism—understanding your responsibility to your staff, because the staff are what make a business work. It is from that basis, from that vessel of experience, that the coalition is moving forward with a plan to reinvigorate the business community. And it is working.

If we look at some of these measures, how they work in small business generally and in agriculture in particular, you can see the difference they make. The immediate write-off for plant, for businesses with turnovers of less than $2 million, for as many items of plant as you wish as long as that item of plant does not exceed $20,000, has had an immediate effect. We have now seen specials on second-hand utes for $19,999. So we know that this is actually landing as we speak.

If you look at the plant around a farm that is turning over $2 million—if you are selling $1.9 million worth of cattle, you are doing quite well for a family—it would mean that, immediately, as of budget night, for the post-hole digger you would get 100 per cent write-off; the compressor, a 100 per cent write-off; and the welder, 100 per cent write-off. These are things that are actually manufactured in our nation and we must make sure that we stimulate the manufacturing industry. Cattle crushes are made in Australia —a 100 per cent write-off immediately that night, as well as for stockyard panels. A lot of the attachments and farm implements are made in Australia. This is stimulating growth, as well as making sure that properties are refurbished.

As part of this process we are also reaching out to these small businesses. If they are a corporate entity, they get 1½ per cent tax deduction. That is certainly of assistance. If they are not corporatised—and, to be honest, a lot of farming entities are partnership sole traders—they get the advantage of a five per cent reduction in the tax, to the value of $1,000—a rebateable item. These are all statements that say we understand your life; we have people in the coalition who have lived that experience. We understand the whole philosophy of small business.

The thing that is beautiful about small business is this: it gives you the opportunity to find your highest level of freedom because you become master of your own ship. You live by your own corporate manual. The results of your endeavours are directly attributable to the money that you actually get and can actually bank. In essence, you aspire to try and find the highest level of freedom by the sweat of your own brow. Sometimes it is successful; sometimes it is a tough game. Sometimes it comes unstuck and that has been the way of business for eternity. But we know that it stands behind the capacity for people. If they are in their own business they can say what they like; they do not have to abide by the corporate culture. They can actually go forward and present their own views clearly and unambiguously because there is that greater freedom.

When I was thinking about a political career I knew that it would be unfair to try to do it in a corporate setting. You had to basically be in your own business, because you cannot have other people in the workplace basically being encumbered by your views and whether they agree with them or not. So this is another great thing that stands behind the liberty of the individual as expressed in its most pronounced form through small business.

I also want to note three issues that were part of the white paper that have been announced in the budget—the 100 per cent write-off for water reticulation as an assistance to security, especially security against drought; the 100 per cent write-off for fencing; and the write-off over three years for fodder storage, including grain, which is pertinent to dealing with drought. These are incredibly important. In so many areas, if you can get some silage in and get some country laser levelled and put a lateral in, you have a capacity to better prepare yourself for droughts. Refurbishing what is on the place will go hand in glove with the dams policy, which we will be announcing imminently. These things work together. It is part of a plan. We are inspiring people to develop their places, and the government will be part and parcel of the construction of dams.

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