Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I notice that we have a group of young people sitting in the gallery: I welcome them to the parliament today, and I hope that they are enjoying their time here in the capital.

Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as you well know, small businesses are a key driver of Australia's economy. They underpin the growth in innovation and provide millions of jobs for Australians right around the country. The measures we see today in this bill, the Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 3) Bill 2015, give even greater confidence and encouragement to the small business sector. Small business is an absolute priority for the Abbott government, clearly demonstrated by this bill before the House today. I need to acknowledge the very persistent efforts by the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, the member for Dunkley, as well as his absolute passion and dedication to his portfolio. He has been in this role for some years and has been a very dedicated and enthusiastic minister for small business. The small businesses I talk to know that with this minister, they have an absolute warrior on their side. And not before time: I think there were about five or six small business ministers under the previous Labor government—it was like a revolving door! And Labor ministers treated small business as basically drawing the short straw in portfolio applications. It was shabby and dismissive treatment indeed, and I despaired of that through those dreadful six years of Labor. The coalition government has a totally opposite approach. With our small business minister who is in cabinet—in cabinet—and who is part of Treasury, we are literally putting our money where our mouth is. For the first time ever in Australia, small business is at the table every time a decision is made by cabinet. No matter what the proposal, no matter what the legislation, no matter what comes into cabinet, small business has its place at the table—and there is no-one that we would prefer to see there other than the current minister.

It is simply not enough to mouth the words 'we support small business', like some throwaway line. A government must actively deliver policies that foster and grow businesses—as we are doing, in part through the bills we see here. Small business is more important than ever in the Australian economy. We in this place are graphically aware that the Australian economy is in transition and faces significant structural challenges from both domestic and international factors. A move to broader-based growth is happening, and small businesses are a key part of growth. So we need small businesses to have even more confidence to invest, to grow, and to employ even more workers, given that small businesses employ nearly half of the workforce in Australia.

What I really like about small business is this: we often see the very first job opportunity which a keen young person has is actually in a small business when the owner gives that young person a go and says: 'Yes, I will support this young person in my small community.' And at the other end of the spectrum, I often see that it is—again—a small business where the owner says: 'I will give a mature age worker a go in my small business.' I see this all the time in my electorate of Forrest, where there are nearly 13,000 small businesses. In Western Australia, around 97 per cent of all businesses are small businesses.

The impact of small business is frequently underestimated, but it is so critically important in small rural and regional communities. It is the small businesses that are part of our communities in so many ways. They support all of our organisations—community services, and sporting organisations. It is our small businesses who are there and who open up when I as a farmer might need them at whatever hour of the day that might be. Below-trend economic growth has driven increasing unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, and that is why small business is so important. A combination of factors such as low interest rates and the falling Australian dollar will encourage employment and business growth over the longer term. There have been positive signs that this is already happening, with job advertisements increasing.

The coalition government's Growing Jobs and Small Business package is the biggest economic recognition of the sector in Australia's history—that is profound: in Australia's history. Make no mistake as to exactly what we are offering, Mr Deputy Speaker: we are offering the lowest small business company tax rate in the almost half a century since 1967. We are cutting the corporate tax rates from 30 per cent to 28.5 per cent for small businesses with an annual turnover under $2 million. Not only that, we are also offering the same incentive to unincorporated small businesses through a discount of five per cent, or up to $1,000, for 1.7 million small businesses that are unincorporated. That will give them that same incentive to innovate, to invest, and to employ. Small business companies will pay less tax. We are providing accelerated depreciation arrangements to small businesses and primary producers. We are simplifying depreciation rules in tax law to increase the threshold for immediate tax deductibility from $1,000 to $20,000. Our farmers will be able to immediately deduct all eligible capital expenditure on fencing and water facilities. Fodder storage assets will be deductible over three years.

These very practical budget measures reflect our understanding of the complex nature of small businesses across our country. It also demonstrates our commitment to those men and women who invest their own resources into small business—who have a go, who take enormous risks, and who employ others. We cannot undervalue or underestimate their efforts. Small businesses also have the advantage of being adaptable and flexible. They are frequently able to respond profitably to changing circumstances—and they will run with their instincts. Studies indicate that it is small businesses that are often the entities which test and pioneer innovative ideas and business practices which are really critical to future economic growth, as well as critical to job prospects and improved living standards. While small companies play a significant role in the Australian economy, they also face a unique set of operational challenges and, as a consequence, typically have higher failure rates than larger companies. As we know, another issue for small business is often access to finance. Funding for small businesses is essential to facilitate productivity growth and job creation. Improving access to finance for small business was one of our commitments.

I want to go back to talking about the farming sector. It is amazing when I am out in the community how many people do not understand the fact that farmers are not just farmers but are also small-business people. Delivering support and incentive to farmers, small businesses and rural communities, particularly in drought-affected areas across Australia, will facilitate investment in longer-term preparedness measures. That is what we have done by providing $70 million to assist those primary producers to claim accelerated depreciation for water facilities, fodder storage and fencing. Farmers will be able to claim more favourable accelerated depreciation for water facilities and things such as silos. This will allow farmers to more effectively store and use water and fodder. If you are on a farm, water and fodder are two critical issues and two critical costs. Water storage, and particularly fodder storage, are very important and are a key part of on-farm economies and efficiencies.

New fencing will also be able to be depreciated in the first year, meaning more money in farmers' pockets sooner. Cash flow is frequently a problem not only in small business but farming small business and, specifically, in drought-affected areas. Drought preparedness was a key priority identified as part of the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper process and these accelerated depreciation measures will create an incentive for farmers to do more with on-farm preparedness activities and to increase their productivity.

The depreciation measures are in addition to the $333 million in drought support that was announced previously by the Prime Minister. There was $35 million for shovel-ready, local infrastructure and employment projects, and $25.8 million for programs to manage pests, animals and weeds in drought-affected areas. These are all part of this package. There was $20 million to expand existing social and community support programs, particularly access to mental health support and counselling services for drought-affected families and communities.

It is hard to understand these things unless you have been through this situation yourself and have seen the despair that goes with being in a area affected by drought over a long term. It is hard to understand it unless you have seen what it does to your own business—unless you have had to make decisions about your livestock, about whether you can or cannot plant, about what your future might be, about whether you can afford to actually send your children to school or keep them at school, or whatever stage your children are at, and about what it does to the family unit.

In my work in the farming sector I frequently saw a lot of women, particularly, in farming businesses bear the brunt when things got really tough. It is interesting to see how people respond. In a manual environment, the men would get on with the daily work of the farm and do what they could do and what they could control. The women often had to manage not only issues such as drought, a lack of income, and managing the family, but also the critical issue of family relationships. In small regional communities that is often some of the key work that women do. It is not only just within their community, but as part of the family unit.

One of the toughest challenges facing families on the land in this uncertain environment is that of managing the family unit, because most of the businesses on the land are family-farming businesses. The effect on the family unit is intense. The relationships and the impacts have to be managed. It all comes at a cost, so the investment that the government has made in that space is particularly important: the $1.8 million to fund additional rural financial counsellors to help people in drought-affected areas, to help people make good decisions about where they are at as a business and as a family. It helps them to know what tough decisions they need to make and how this will impact on the family as well as the business. These are the very real and confronting issues that are faced over and over again.

I experienced this frequently during the dairy deregulation years, given the number of small businesses that had no choice but to exit the industry. I worked with a number of farmers and farming families during that time. I saw the stress and the pressure. I saw it firsthand and the changes I brought in people's personal health and circumstances. It was extreme. I saw damaged people. There were people who, even five and 10 year on, would come and give me a hug if they saw me in the supermarket or in the paddock or on the rails at the sale yards. After all that time they would still sometimes break down in tears, because we shared that process and I shared what they went through. Unless you go through this process yourself, it is impossible to understand what these people go through. It is that human element that is most impacted.

It is the same in the dairy sector. I worked with a group of women who were dairy farmers themselves but also were part of family businesses. So many of them had to manage the relationships that changed when the family and the business got into significant financial difficulties. The pressures came from everywhere. It was like a vicious circle. The women were in the middle of that, trying to manage the relationship between perhaps fathers, sons and daughters, the decisions they had to make about the business, the family, the education and the future. All of that compounds into the family unit, so the resources that are put into this place are particularly important. I cannot speak more highly of those who engage in this space. Equally, for those who have to make very tough decisions, it is a matter of having a plan for what is next, a plan B for what they will do when the change has to happen.

In supporting the bill before the House, I am absolutely committed to small business. Equally, I am very proud to be part of a government that has very clearly, consistently and continuously demonstrated its commitment to small businesses of all types in this nation.

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