Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

According to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, over 97 per cent of all Australian businesses are classified as small businesses. There are over 2.5 million of them, many of them sole traders, and each of them supports up to 19 employees, making up 42 per cent of the workforce. These were the people I looked after when I was a lawyer, and I've always respected their courage and their have-a-go attitude when representing them as an MP. These are the people who make our morning coffee. They submit our tax returns, they bake our bread, they give legal advice and they even groom our dogs—a special call-out to those on the weekend that looked after my dogs, Dash and Henry.

The variety of things they do is endless. One thing they all have in common is that they are the lifeblood of our communities. They provide local jobs and they support local schools and community groups. We all benefit from their hard work, as does the Australian economy. Small businesses contributed nearly $590 billion of value in 2022-23, about 33 per cent of our GDP. Small businesses do better when Australians have more dollars in their pockets. That's why we gave them all a pay cut to spend in their local small businesses. Sadly, the coalition opposed that, unbelievably—a slap in the face for small businesses.

There's no denying that small businesses have been doing it tough during this cost-of-living crisis that was kicked off by the coalition. That's why the Albanese Labor government is providing supports—because we know the importance of small business. This year's budget included a range of measures, valued at $640 million and targeted at easing the pressures on small business. We extended the $20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses by 12 months. Small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $10 million can deduct eligible assets until 30 June 2025. This direct and targeted measure provides cashflow support, simplification benefits and eases financial pressures. It's equivalent to an estimated $290 million of support each year for two years.

We gave pay rises and tax cuts because we know that cashflow is crucial to the success of small businesses. We've improved payment times, directing over $33 million towards reforms that assist this, including identifying big businesses that do not pay small businesses within the agreed terms, as well as enhanced powers for the regulator. It will all be transparent, with a dashboard that makes payment-time data more accessible.

We've provided more support in the form of energy bill relief. This meant $325 off energy bills for one million eligible small businesses and comes on top of the $650 rebate that was provided last financial year.

We're also supporting small businesses to strengthen their defences against cybercrime. Amazingly, 43 per cent of cybercrime targets are small businesses, often resulting in financial loss and mental and physical stress on the small number of owners and staff. The Australian Signals Directorate reported that the average cost of a cybercrime incident involving a small business was $46,000. It's no surprise that these owners describe cyberattacks and scams as one of the biggest challenges they face. That's why I'm glad we've actually started to see a decrease in this—thanks to the Cyber Wardens, which is the free, online cybersecurity training program set up to help protect small businesses from the threat of attacks, and the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service, which was launched recently by the Minister for Small Business.

We've also made some big changes to the Commonwealth Procurement Rules to make it possible for small businesses to benefit from the $75 billion in contracts that is spent every year.

These measures all sit within that bigger picture of supports being driven by the Minister for Small Business, who is holding regular meetings with small-business ministers and ensuring that all levels of government are collaborating on the new National Small Business Strategy. A federation can be a curse, especially for small businesses that want to go big.

There is further support for small-business owners with our $26 million program for Fremantle health and financial counselling support. Small businesses will also benefit from another Albanese Labor government initiative that is helping Australians with the cost-of-living crisis and positioning us for the future. These include reforms that bolster employment opportunities, such as fee-free TAFE, cheaper child care and expanded paid parental leave, with one of the No. 1 concerns of my businesses—admittedly, they're not all small: manufacturing and the like—being that they need trained staff. They need warm bodies at the moment; they'll take anyone off the street, almost.

The Labor government values the economic and social contribution of the small business sector and will always back these hardworking business owners every step of the way. I still admire their ticker and courage for having a go.

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