Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

We have great conversations, let me tell you. Unlike the caucus of the Labor Party, we actually get along.

Indeed, regional Australia is carrying this nation, but never more so than during COVID. Small businesses in regional Australia are doing it tough. As this Daily Telegraph editorial by the two authors I mentioned earlier states:

We are clearly not doing enough to support those doing it tough. Legislating housing targets is one thing but ensuring builders can remain in business and deliver on these targets is another. Recent building approval figures for NSW show over the last 12 months less than 45,000 homes were approved, well below the 75,000 required each year.

That's just New South Wales. It doesn't take into account Queensland or Victoria, where there is so much pressure on the housing markets, as there is right across the nation. As Luke and Denita point out:

The ASIC figures also reveal very few industries were left untouched. Retail industry insolvencies are up 31 per cent year on year.

Thirty-one per cent, Deputy Speaker. They go on:

The stakes are extremely high, with 850,000 small businesses in NSW employing 1.7 million people and paying annual wages of almost $70bn.

But what did we get during the recent budget? Well, we got 36,000 more public servants. That's what we got. Someone's got to pay for those too. Taxes will pay for those—taxes paid by small businesses, taxes paid right across the board. The editorial says:

We seem to have forgotten that a future plan for Australia starts with empowering the entrepreneurs willing to risk their own capital.

We need to ensure red tape is reduced rather than increased to help small businesses survive.

That is so very true. They add:

Too many government measures are only adding to the fatigue of small business owners.

For instance, from 1 January all small cafes and restaurants will be required to label the origin of each seafood item on its menu.

While this might make business sense for luxury establishments, it means more cost and red tape for mum-and-dad fish-and-chip shops selling seafood baskets and marinara pizzas.

The NSW Small Business Commissioner has estimated costs of over $2800 for a small-business owner to physically alter printed menus.

It's just another bit of bureaucracy, just another bit of red tape, brought to you by a Labor government.

See this speech in context