Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was nice while it lasted to have a little bit of bonding over the fence from the member for Chifley. This government is committed to delivering fairness and opportunity for all Australians. Fairness is about treating everyone the same way under our laws. It is about applying the same standards to a large multinational that you would apply to the man or woman in the street. On this side of the House, we appreciate the contribution made by big business, the one-third of Australian workers they employ and the 73 per cent of them that innovate and take our economy forward.

However, we demand that the big end of town play by the same rules as everyone else, and we are acting to ensure just that. We are making sure that they give Australian workers a fair go and pay them the wages they are entitled to with the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill. We are making sure that they do not strike any dodgy deals with the unions with the Fair Work Amendment (Corrupting Benefits) Bill. And yes, in this Treasury Laws Amendment (GST Low Value Goods) Bill and other bills we are making sure that they pay their fair share of tax. We are introducing a levy on the big four banks, because we want to make sure that they do their bit to get the nation's finances back on track. We are ensuring that multinational corporations do not get away with shifting their profits, with the Treasury Laws Amendment (Combating Multinational Tax Avoidance) Bill. We are demanding that the big end of town do the right thing and pay their taxes just like every hardworking Australian. Fairness is about treating everyone the same and making sure that, whoever you are, you operate on the same level playing field. The bill before us today is another example of this government enacting that principle.

In preparing for this speech, I reviewed just one of the hundreds of websites that sell millions of dollars worth of goods into Australia every year—Amazon.com. Most of the kids up in the gallery have probably been on that site. This website has almost 100 separate departments. Handmade furniture, vinyl records, fine art, golf clubs, car tyres and mascara are all among their offerings. For every low-value product on the site, from the beachball to the ball gown, Amazon gets an unjustifiable price advantage over our Australian made products because it does not collect GST. How are Goodyear Autocare in Kawana Waters supposed to compete fairly with American tyre exporters when they start with a 10 per cent disadvantage? How is Corelli Books in Mooloolaba supposed to compete with Amazon? How are Surfware Australia or SPORTFIRST in Caloundra supposed to compete with international sports equipment suppliers in the US, the UK or China? Competition is fierce in low-value consumer goods. A 10 per cent disadvantage is not a margin that can be made up by working a little harder. Who benefits from this imbalance? It is overseas businesses that do not employ Australian workers, invest in Australia's future or pay Australian taxes to support our service delivery. It is them that will receive that imbalanced benefit.

The Turnbull government is committed to supporting Australian small businesses, as I am in my electorate Fisher. After the government passed our tax cut for small businesses last month, I went out into my electorate and walked the main streets of Mooloolaba and Caloundra, meeting with some of our local business owners, as I often do. I note the great efforts that the small business minister has made with my people in Fisher, having recently attended and hosted a small business forum in Fisher, for which I am extremely grateful. When I was out of talking with small business owners, we talked about what these owners intended to do with the additional income for their business that the government is now allowing them to keep.

I spoke to one man, Martin Kralovic, the owner of CK Coffee Bar & Wholefoods in Mooloolaba. Martin operates a fantastic coffee shop just a two-minute walk from the beach which supports our local farmers and encourages healthy eating. When I spoke to Martin what he said encapsulated perfectly what so many business owners in Fisher have told me over the past year. He said: 'There's always something in the business to reinvest in. You are trying to accommodate as many people as possible, and to do that you need as many staff as you can get. Having extra dollars will allow us to put more staff on so that we can provide a better service, and that's the way we look at it.' Martin from CK wholefoods has an extremely busy coffee shop and I know that he is always trying to find new ways of providing services to more and more locals and tourists in Mooloolaba.

When you give Australian small businesses a level playing field, you give them the chance to compete for the extra dollars that they need to reinvest. When you help a small business to succeed, you create local jobs. You help to build coherent communities and you generate more tax revenue for our public services. This bill is yet another critical part of the Turnbull government's march for more fairness and opportunity in our economy, and I commend the bill to the House.

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