Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the advice from the member for Whitlam but he'll be disappointed to know that, on this occasion, I support the bill in its original form. The reason is I and many others on this side of the chamber have been strong and consistent advocates and supporters of small and family business. In my nine years in this place, when you look at what those opposite say and what they actually do, that hasn't always been the case.

In my electorate, with over 15,000 small businesses, this is a very important piece of legislation. It is another part of what this Morrison government is doing to deliver for and support our small businesses. Whether it's lowering taxes or reducing red tape or now, as this bill does, combatting illegal phoenixing, we are seeking to support and encourage small and family businesses to grow, prosper and develop. If they can do that and they can employ more Australians, it will create opportunity for all and make our communities stronger. Over my time, I have had many discussions with small and family business owners at regular business networking events across my community, whether it's the Beenleigh Yatala Chamber of Commerce, Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Ormeau Business Connect or the Logan Country Chamber of Commerce and their various breakfasts and events. It's through these discussions, and having had my own business prior to coming into this place and family members who still have their own small businesses, we see the hurdles and the risks that face small business every day.

That is why this piece of legislation is so important. (Quorum formed) It's good to see that the business of the House continues apace. This package of reforms is, as I was saying, dealing with the issue of illegal phoenixing which, as the PwC report has shown, costs our economy somewhere between nearly $3 billion and $5 billion annually. More often than not, it's small to medium family businesses around the country that pay the price. It hurts those businesses, it hurts individual contractors and suppliers who are left unpaid and out of pocket and, importantly, it impacts employees who haven't been paid their entitlements and all Australian taxpayers who ultimately bear the burden of those unrecovered tax debts left behind by phoenixing activity.

This bill introduces a range of offences and seeks to prevent these illegal phoenix operators from gaining an unfair advantage over honest and competitive businesses, which has much broader economic impact and, as we've seen in Queensland over the last six or 12 months with the number of bankruptcies and companies going into administration, undermines business and public confidence in the business sector. It's toxic and it's damaging, and the objective of this bill is to get rid of this activity to ensure that the confidence that is necessary for our small- to medium-business sector and the trust, importantly, in that sector of dealing with other businesses is removed from the system. I think this bill, with the measures in it, goes a long way towards achieving these reforms.

As I said in my opening remarks, it is this government, through this piece of legislation and many others, that continues to work towards supporting our small- and medium-business sector right across the country. Those opposite, once again, want to get in the way of this legislative process. We need to give our regulators the power, the tools and the instruments to combat this illegal activity so that the businesses in our community that want to do the right thing can get on, build and grow their businesses and employ Australians. I commend this bill in its original form to the House.

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