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

It's always a pleasure to rise in this House and speak about small business. It's interesting to note that the minister isn't in the House, but I'll take issue with his comment earlier, when he said that you don't listen to what we say on this side; you look at what we do. Well, if I have ever heard the pot calling the kettle black! It is the Labor Party with whom you don't listen to what they say; you look at what they do, because, nine times out of 10—or, as we're seeing currently, 10 times out of 10—they are two completely and utterly different things. They say one thing to one group of people and one thing to another group of people and hope those two groups of people don't talk and work it out at the end of the day. I've got news for those opposite: people do work it out, and they are working it out.

Our small-business sector is some 10,000-plus businesses in my electorate of Forde and 2½ million across this country. They go out every day and, as somebody said earlier, they're the innovators. They come up with new ideas. They take risks. Their house is on the line. Their family finances are at risk each and every day that they open their doors. And yet we see, each and every day in this place, a government that is hell-bent on destroying small business, through a range of measures. We've seen the IR laws that were rammed through this place and are going to have a disproportionate impact on small business. We have seen the cost of electricity and gas go through the roof. When I talk to small-business manufacturers in my electorate, they talk about input costs. Electricity and gas are two very large input costs that have a disproportionate effect on the profitability of a business. If they're leasing, have a look at how much their leases have increased by with the inflation rate that this government has failed to get under control. Have a look at supply chain difficulties. All of these issues impact small business each and every day.

In addition to that, one of the biggest issues they have is red tape. The owners of our small businesses do it all. They are the HR manager. They are the accountant. They're the business manager. They're out trying to get new business. All of this is in an environment that is being made increasingly difficult by the government. We've seen recently another piece of legislation in this House which will impact many of our small-business owners in this country, and it concerns the issue of additional tax on unrealised capital gains and superannuation. Many of our small- to medium-business owners have their business premises in their superannuation funds. If those buildings increase in value, and their super funds become worth more than $3 million, they are going to unnecessarily pay tax on unrealised capital gain. That is of enormous consequence to those businesses.

So, when we look at these amendments that have gone through the Senate—increasing the instant asset write-off to $30,000 and making it permanent—I think that that is a tremendous win, albeit a small win, for small business, helping them reduce their red tape and regulation and simplifying their bookkeeping. Have a look at the success of that measure when the coalition was in government. The number of small businesses I spoke to who said that was a great initiative by the then government so they could go out and buy new plant and equipment to build the capacity and productivity of their businesses—it was extraordinarily well received. Increasing it from $20,000 to $30,000, as is reflected in these amendments, should be fully supported by this House, as a number of speakers have said, because it is one little ray of light in the darkness—as the member for Bradfield said in his speech—the winter of darkness that small businesses are facing under this government opposite.

For any of the reasons that I have outlined, I fully support the amendments to this bill.

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