David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Backing small business, which is the engine room of our economy, particularly in regional Australia, is part of our coalition government's plan for a stronger economy and yet more jobs, on top of the million jobs that the economy's created since we've been in government. Small business across Australia is set to benefit from additional opportunities because of the changes to the instant asset write-off tax changes, which are continuing, and, similarly, in the drought situation, tax changes to allow write-off in one year for fodder storage and water reticulation.

The legislation delivers on the coalition government's recent budget announcement to continue these instant write-offs for various assets to 30 June 2019. In my electorate of Lyne we have 15,000 small businesses, and we must deliver policies that make it easier for them to flourish and grow. We need to get rid of legislation and policies that inhibit small business from creating more jobs. Governments don't create jobs; businesses do. So we have to set the framework that lets them flourish.

One of the limiters of employment in the current situation is none other than state-levied payroll taxes, which are a perverse tax that limit growth of or penalise companies that employ more people. Raising the threshold is not a structural reform; it's just kicking the problem up the road a bit. The other is the fear of the very complex and cumbersome industrial relations system that they have to work under. You almost need to have a full-time professional consultant on hand to deal with the complexities of the Fair Work legislation for small businesses. That's a cost they can't carry. As a result, many of them are afraid to put on full-time new employees unless they're absolutely sure they're going to work for the company and be 'a fit'. So what we need is simplicity and flexibility.

The modern economy is changing. We have to adapt to competitors and disruptors and have a cost base that delivers productivity. We all support a high-wage economy in Australia, but we need to have a highly productive industrial relations system that doesn't add unnecessary complexity, limit employment or increase costs for employers, because it's your boss that gives you your job. We need to support employers, particularly in the small-business area.

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