Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I begin my comments today on the motion on small business, going to point 2 of the motion which acknowledges the work, it says, of the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Small Business in putting together a package that will deliver for small business now and into the future. We must stop to ask which Prime Minister, which Treasurer and which Minister for Small Business the motion addresses. It obviously celebrates what this government has put in place for small business. Of course, we on this side agree that with 96 per cent of all Australian businesses being small businesses, it does warrant serious support. But, in opposition, those opposite opposed a tax cut for small business. They abolished the asset write-off and wound back the lost carry-back measures introduced by the former Labor government. After the unfair, cruel, 2014 budget, when they realised the polls were headed south, they suddenly found that they could support those measures of an asset write-off scheme—limited in time, not permanent as it would have been under Labor—and introduced a tax cut of 1.5 per cent.

I bring the chamber's attention to the 2015 budget reply speech by the Leader of the Opposition, who said:

A 1.5 per cent cut for small businesses might be enough to generate a headline but it is not enough to generate the long-term confidence and growth our economy needs.

He went on to say:

… let's give small businesses the sustainable boost to confidence that they deserve, the confidence to create jobs … That is the future. That is confidence.

I would argue and suggest that our new Prime Minister, our new Treasurer and our new Minister for Small Business get serious about these issues. I say this in all seriousness because in Lalor I hear specific things from small business. One of the things I have heard the loudest and the longest is what they are not getting from this government and this Prime Minister—from the new Prime Minister, the member for Wentworth, who was the Minister for Communications. The one thing that small businesses want to talk to me about in the electorate of Lalor is a world-class broadband. What they want to talk to me about is that they are very disappointed with this second-rate NBN, and they are more than disappointed about the digital divide that is being created in my electorate, not just from house to house and resident to resident but from business to business. This digital divide is impacting negatively on small business in Lalor.

Google recently outlined the impact of reliable internet provision for small business. In an electorate with over 9,000 small businesses, I know that the people of Lalor know how important that is. Small business in Lalor accounts for a third of our economic output, but they are being held back by the poor provision of the internet because in Lalor many addresses are not getting any internet except for very expensive wireless internet. This is a cruncher, a killer, for small business. We know and we have heard from members today about the small margins that small business may be relying on. I did a survey recently and one of the small businesses in Lalor responded to that survey—many responded but this one, I thought, was quite pertinent for today's debate. This person said:

I live four kilometres from the Werribee exchange and run a home-based business. The internet speeds are pathetic, making it difficult for me to maintain online backups of my work and send work to clients over the internet.

This is limiting small business in Lalor, so I have a message for the new Prime Minister: if you want to assist small business, work with us to enact the five per cent cut to company tax for small business that we suggested, and get serious about a first-class NBN rollout; get serious to ensure that small business is not being crunched by a lack of access to 21st century technology; get serious about making small business the driver of economic activity; get serious about supporting them to create the jobs of the future; get serious about supporting small business in my electorate, so that they can create jobs and employ those people in my electorate who are currently unemployed. (Time expired)

Debate adjourned.

See this speech in context