Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The other benefit we have now is that, because we had a trial during COVID where small businesses were able to write off large purchases immediately, we don't have to guess anymore. That resulted in record tax receipts, which was a major contributor, along with record contributions from the mining and resource sectors, to the surplus created by the previous coalition government that this Labor government have, of course, taken the credit for. It's kind of ironic that the industries that this government despise and don't support—coal, gas, agriculture and small business—are actually going to supply the funds for them to waste on all the non-income-producing industries like renewables et cetera.

The other issue with this bill is the 30 June 2024 cut-off date. Many small businesses will only find out about this initiative when they go to their accountants to do their tax for the 2024 financial year, and that will be too late for them to take advantage of it. The date needs to be extended until at least 2025—or it should have no expiry date—giving small business certainty.

Sadly, we've just found out that five per cent of small businesses shut during the last year, which is the worst result since the GFC. One common denominator between the last 12 months and the GFC is a federal Labor government. Having been in small business since 2001, I can say that between 2001 and 2006, under John Howard, my business grew 300 per cent. From 2007 to 2013, it grew less than five per cent. From 2013 to 2019, when I entered this place, there was a 45 per cent increase. This was purely because of the government of the day.

Business confidence is something that you cannot buy. Small-business owners that I associate with, that I talk to and that I know personally all have the same attitude—that is, when Labor is in we batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst. You don't spend and you don't invest, because there is no trust.

Let's talk about the electricity incentive. It's a great idea in principle, but, again, unless you've been in small business, you wouldn't understand that it doesn't really help most small-business owners unless they own the premises that they're operating out of, and as we know most businesses rent the premises. So, in offering them incentives to upgrade the equipment, that would be the landlord's equipment; it wouldn't be their equipment.

In the 20 years that I rented premises, I wasn't really interested in upgrading the landlord's equipment, as when I left the building he would enjoy the benefits. If you really want to get serious about this then you need to make sure that the landlord, not the business owner, is the one who's getting the benefit of upgrading the equipment. So, either you're doing this because you know that it won't be taken up, because you don't want to spend the money, or you really just don't understand business. I don't know which it is.

On superannuation, 20 years ago a local smash repair business bought a shed, which he operates out of, with his self-managed super fund, for around $500,000. Of course, real estate has gone up a lot over the last 20 years. Now it is valued at over $3 million. Under the new rules proposed by this government, he will now have to pay tax on the $2½ million gain even though he hasn't actually sold it. He hasn't received any money. So my question is: if the real estate market tanks in the next two years, after he has paid this tax, and it goes back to being worth $1½ million, will there be a refund? You cannot possibly tax people on money they haven't earnt.

It's just absolutely incredible to go down that path—not to mention farmers, many of whom have self-managed superannuation funds and own property that they run livestock on. They're going to be slugged with these bills because the property has now been valued at over $3 million. They're going to have to sell those properties, which means that they won't be able to run as much livestock, which is going to create a shortage and increase prices to the end consumer. It just goes on and on. There is just no business acumen at all in this government. Only the coalition understands small business, and small business only ever thrives under coalition governments. Those, ladies and gentlemen, are the facts.

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