Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I will go through in some detail each of the points that members have raised and endeavour, in the time allotted, to get through them. Phoenixing, as raised by the member for Fenner, is a scourge on the Australian economy, and the government is taking action—real action—to stamp it out. Too many times I have heard of cases where small businesses, particularly in the construction industry, are not paid by their employer and that employer then goes under, but then the same defaulting company, under a different name, springs up, either in the same state or elsewhere, to continue operating, minus their debts. It is not fair. It is not on. Phoenixing is un-Australian, and it is not fair to everyone who is working hard every day to get a job done—particularly in the construction sector: they get a job up to lock-up stage, sometimes, and then lose everything; they lose all that hard work and do not get paid.

In February 2017, the Phoenix Taskforce provided a submission to the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services on law reform to deter phoenixing activity, including the introduction of director identification numbers. Also in February, a joint paper from the University of Melbourne and Monash Business School on phoenixing was released. As you would expect, the government is carefully considering its options on both reports. It will respond in due course with a package of reforms.

To the member for Fenner: I note that he has finally caught up on reading this government's phoenixing agenda and has flagged the support of Labor for recommendations in these papers, and I look forward to working constructively with the opposition as these particular bills pass through, hopefully, the parliament. I note that the member for Fenner quoted Master Builders Australia's Denita Wawn. I would like to quote her now:

The Budget's small business measures will particularly benefit the building and construction industry which is 98% made up of small businesses. The building industry is a big winner from the extension of the accelerated depreciation measures by one year and to businesses turning over up to $10 million.

That is from her budget night media release, and I commend that to the member for Fenner.

To the member for Parramatta, who asked me about the budget, feeling confident and spending: yes, small businesses in her area are very genuinely excited about the instant asset write-off. In fact, Alana Laliotitis—whose Kouzina Greco restaurant I visited with the Minister for Defence, Senator Marise Payne—said that the new equipment that she purchased as a result of this program 'helped immensely'. She said: 'It was necessary for us to produce good food and for staff morale.' And it actually had a chain reaction, because she bought new kitchen equipment from a local supplier and she had it installed by a local tradie. So that created a chain reaction of positivity throughout the member for Parramatta's electorate. I would recommend that the member goes and visits that restaurant and talks to Alana about how positive it is, and, while the member is at it, she could talk to a number of other small business owners in the high street, in the CBD, to see how the small business instant asset write-off extension, the lowering of the company tax rates and all the other good measures in the budget—a budget of fairness, opportunity and security—have helped businesses in the member for Parramatta's electorate.

The member for Brisbane talked about the instant asset write-off. There are 31,775 small businesses in his electorate. I visited his electorate for a national business roadshow forum on 6 April, and there, too, I had that feeling of positivity. He talked about a carpenter in Albion and a brewery in Newstead. Yes, I can assure him that all those businesses and many more—indeed, the almost 32,000 small businesses in his electorate; what a great number!—are going to benefit from the measures announced recently in the budget. How good is that!

We also heard from the member for Capricornia. I had a great visit to her electorate just last week. There is so much positivity there. Jason and Yolanda from Almost Anything, a graphic design business that employs 13 people, have used the instant asset write-off to purchase two new vehicles.

Lastly, the member for Perth might have talked about cricket, but he is no Wally Hammond. Labor often criticised the government for not moving faster on consumer issues. That is all well and good, but it again shows that Labor does not know its own process. It is a process they created.

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