Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm waking you up from your deep slumber from the boredom that comes from listening to the member for McMahon—the deep boredom that comes from regurgitating the whole, tired, pathetic talking points that give no weight or substance to the nature of the Commonwealth. I'm helping you, not hindering you.

It is a great privilege to get up and speak on this bill. When we think about who pays tax in this country, we think about the millions of Australians who wake up every day, get themselves out of bed, brush their teeth and feed themselves and their families breakfast, and go to work and make a stick of it. This bill is turning around to those millions of Australians and saying: 'We back you. We are going to support you. You are the foundation of our country. You are the foundation of its success. If you're prepared to have a go, we're prepared to back you every step of the way.'

We know there are millions of SMEs across the country; there are seven million people who work for them across this great nation. There are 668,000 in Victoria—millions of workers for companies of less than five million people. In the wonderful electorate of Goldstein, there are 22,117 SMEs. These are people, who, through initiative, endeavour and entrepreneurial spirit, come together to provide the opportunities for them and their families but also their fellow Australians. Because of the consequences of strong economic management by this government, by this Prime Minister, both as Prime Minister and as Treasurer, by managing the books carefully, by making sure we get people off welfare and into work—from tax consumers to tax contributors—we have been able to turn around the budget circumstance that we inherited from our political opponents. This is not just to slow the rate of growth of debt, not only to get us very close and within earshot of surplus for the first time in a decade; but it has also given us the policy flexibility to turn around to Australians and say, 'We get it. You've been doing it tough for many years, repaying the debt and deficit legacy of our political opponents'. Now is the time we turn around and say, 'We want to support you to realise your full ambition, your full capacity, to take Australia to its next wage of growth'. And that's why we're bringing the tax rate down for small and medium businesses to 25 per cent, because only people pay taxes. You can talk about companies, you can talk about international corporations or multinational corporations, you can talk about any other type of legal structure you want, but in the end there are only people who inhabit this country, and they're the ones who pay taxes.

Now, 25 per cent is a great start. I made no ambiguity throughout my political career; I would like to see it go further. Not because there are reasons of international competitiveness; although, there are. I would like to see it go much lower, because in the end that would be good for stimulating our economy and growth, but this is a fantastic start. More critically, we are able to bring it so far forward so people can have the opportunity to back themselves; they can take that extra cash and put it straight into employing more people, buying more equipment and backing themselves.

Of course, this is across a backdrop of many measures that this government has taken, where we have backed those who want to have a go. We, of course, have the $20,000 instant asset write-off, something that is used across the board in the Goldstein electorate and the nation, where people have been able to bring spending forward and invest in growing their business, their enterprise and their opportunity.

Now, of course, we see this in the Goldstein electorate every day. For example, at a simple retail business like Sports Conscious in Church Street in Brighton, Andy Stuart-Menteth has 10 employees. He said: 'The impact of this tax relief for small business creates a feeling the government actually cares about us; that incentives, investment and confidence matter. In retail small business we feel the key to success for us is providing good honest service. By incentivising our bottom line we're able to invest more in our employees to reach this goal, to serve Australians. The endowment effect in small businesses is immeasurable and all of us tend to re-invest in our businesses as a way of increasing their long-term value, but of course so they can go on and employ more people. This initiative is welcomed by someone who feels that small business is the heartbeat of everything that makes Australia a wonderful country.' Andy, good on you. You're part of making this great nation. You're part of employing the people who can then go and support themselves and their families. Andy, you're part of the future and continuing story of this great nation.

To The Owl & The Baker in Centre Road, Bentleigh: Nathan and Andrea have eight employees. Andrea said that a tax cut means she can employ an extra full-time employee. This can provide much-needed stability for other employees who work casually, placing less of a burden on them. Good on you, Andrea! Good on you, Nathan! That means, again, that you're not just backing yourselves but backing all those other people who want to have a go. It means more people are off welfare and that more people are contributing to the system and carrying the costs of our society.

Then, of course, we've got Gateaux by Marc Frissard in Hampton Street, Hampton. Marc Frissard has approximately 10 staff—Marc is the chef and owner, and Luana, or Lulu, is also an owner and the manager. There are Dylan, Kevin, Sam, Fiona, Kayla, Ashlea, Sylvian, Sancha and Kathleen. This bill backs all of them too, because they're able to get on with the job of producing the coffees and the cakes in Gateaux to meet the needs of the good people of Hampton.

So what we have in this bill is a measure that's in the best interests of this country. It has the capacity to contribute so that everybody can make their fair contribution. I say to the parliament that I'm supporting this bill because it's in our best interests as a nation, and that's why everybody else should support it too.

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