Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I ran a small-medium business for a number of years. When I talk to other small-business owners in the electorate, they don't listen to what goes on in this House because they do not believe this House operates with their interests at heart. They believe this House is more interested in politics and playing games than in making a difference to small business. As a small-business owner, to be promised something in May and then the following May still not be sure if that promise is going to come to fruition, when you are the government, just makes the word of the government seem absolutely pointless. Businesses need to be able to rely on what government promises. And it is up to the government to make sure they pass the laws they have promised with much fanfare and asking for much support. They need to make sure they can pass those laws in whatever way they can, and get them through this House and the other place.

This is not only about the instant asset write-off; this is also about the Small Business Energy Incentive. All these things have been tied up across these houses for the last year. If you are a business trying to do the right thing, trying to make the right investments to lower your energy bills and do the right thing for the climate, trying to do the right thing to increase the absolutely dwindling level of business investment—which we know is absolutely critical for productivity—you're saying, 'Where is the government on this, because the government said it's going to do something and has completely failed to deliver on this? Now it's over a year since they made that announcement, but we still do not have that support in the House.

As a small businessperson, you need certainty. You need to know that you can make the investments that the government says you can make and that they will support that. They don't follow legislation and they don't follow this House. They heard it from the Treasurer last year in his words, and so I think many small businesses have taken him on his word, and it's about time that we made sure that this House lived up to the budget and made sure that this House delivers on the incentives.

If it has to increase, I support that increase. That's what the government needs to accept because they can't control the Senate and they need to make sure that this bill passes now for those small businesses because small businesses lose trust in government and people lose trust in government when they make a commitment at the budget but it doesn't happen and it doesn't happen a year later.

I ask everybody in this House to pass this legislation. It is time to move on and it is time to support this legislation, as amended, from the Senate. This is not a time to play with a double dissolution, which is what it feels like is being played for here. This is the time to do the right thing by small businesses and give them the opportunity to make the investments they need and make the clean energy investments that they need because they are hurting right now and they need our support.

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