Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It's good to follow my friend the member for Riverina in closing this debate, and I want to concur with all the nice things he said about me and utterly disagree with everything else he said! I thank all members who engaged in the debate on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Support for Small Business and Charities and Other Measures) Bill 2023.

Schedule 1 to the bill deals with the instant asset write-off, and there's been a fair bit of discussion about it, including from the member for Riverina and others. We say quite simply that it's going to improve cash flow and reduce compliance costs for small businesses. There's a $20,000 instant cash write-off available for small businesses, as defined within the bill, up until 30 June 2024. It was announced in the budget, and businesses have been on notice. I know, through the lobbying that I've had in my office, that many have gone out there and arranged purchases on the basis of these measures operating exactly as intended. Schedule 2 to the bill introduces the new small business energy incentive. This is a bonus of 20 per cent additional tax deduction until 30 June 2024 to help small and medium sized businesses electrify and improve their energy efficiency. Put together, this is a $60 million package to assist small businesses.

We certainly welcome the sincere and genuine engagement from crossbenchers on the issue. We are committed to supporting small businesses and medium sized businesses, and we've done that through both budgets but also between budgets, with the hard work that we've done. I point to one of the first acts of bringing business, community, unions and parliamentarians together, including some from the coalition benches, which was the skills summit, and you engaged in it as well, Deputy Speaker. When I talk to small businesses, they say, 'We can't get the staff we need.' So it's a big effort of ours, addressing the skills gap. The Prime Minister has just got back from a very successful trip to China for trade opportunities and to try to get our relationship, particularly our trade relationship, back on track with China. That's absolutely critical, and there are literally billions of dollars which will flow from the normalisation of trade arrangements, and that will have a massive benefit, particularly in the agricultural sector. There are lots of benefits there for small businesses, large businesses and the economy as a whole.

The member for Riverina talked about energy bill relief. I'm disappointed that he didn't vote, when he had the opportunity, for energy bill relief for small businesses and households in his electorate, but perhaps—

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