Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. I know that she, like many of the members on this side of the House, has owned and operated a business herself and that she, like we do, understands how challenging it can be to run a small business. It's very clear that the last six months have been particularly challenging for our small businesses, and that's why we as a government acted very quickly to support our small businesses, because they are the engine room of our economy and they are the job creators.

We now are focusing on recovery and the future, and last night's budget was designed to turbocharge our small businesses, with their investment and also with their growth. When our businesses thrive, they create jobs. They create opportunities for all Australians. Once again, we're backing business investment in this budget, with $31.6 billion in business tax relief. This includes a massive extension of the very successful instant asset tax write-off, with 99 per cent of businesses being able to write-off an asset of any value. This means that small businesses—and that includes our cafe owners, our tradies, our builders and our manufacturers—are going to be able to boost their productivity by looking at new equipment and new technology as part of this, for example, new vehicles. Members on all sides of the House know how important the instant asset tax write-off has been to support the businesses in their electorates, so it does promote opportunities for businesses to grow, for businesses to expand, and that's how they create jobs.

But there are many other things in this budget that support our small businesses. We're providing incentives, with the JobMaker Hiring Credit, for businesses to take on new employees and to give our young people a start. We're helping our small businesses access the benefits of digital technology, to expand opportunities and to keep them safe online. We're investing in skills training so our small businesses have the pipeline of skilled works that they need so that they can create the jobs that are needed now but also the jobs of the future. We're strategically investing in our manufacturing sector because, as we scale up our medium and our large enterprises, they will bring with them the small businesses behind them.

There are some very important initiatives in the budget for our small businesses, and one of the wisest investments that this government can make is to support our small businesses to create the lasting jobs of the future. That's what this budget does. It is a plan for small business. It's a plan for investment. It's a plan for jobs. It's a plan for our future. (Time expired)

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