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

I move:

It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on this motion in relation to small business—part of the engine room of our economy. This motion seeks to commend the coalition government for its strong commitment to small business in Australia. It also notes that small business is essential to the Australian economy. There are approximately two million actively trading small businesses in Australia employing some 4.6 million people. In addition, small businesses generate over $900 billion in income and contribute some 34 per cent of industry value-add.

It also notes that under the previous Labor government 412,000 jobs were lost in the small business sector and there are now some 3,000 fewer employing small businesses than was the case when the Howard government left office. The share of employment provided by small businesses has shrunk from 53 per cent of the private sector workforce in 2007 to 43 per cent under the former Labor government. The motion also notes the support of small business owners throughout Australia by endorsing the coalition's small business policy, which outlines some 23 initiatives to further remove the challenges and roadblocks in their way.

Since the election, the general consensus in the electorate of Forde within our small business sector is that, for the first time in many years, the future is starting to look brighter. My conversations with local small business owners, whether I am at the local chamber of commerce or out in the electorate, are becoming increasingly positive. Yet they are frustrated at the continual blockage of legislation that will help them grow and build their business by the former government and their allies the Greens in the Senate. You can see the early signs of restoration in business confidence after years of decay and neglect. Small business owners in Forde are beginning to feel optimistic again. They can see that they finally have a government that takes their contribution to our economy seriously. As I mentioned previously, small businesses generate over $900 billion in income and contribute around 34 per cent of industry value-added.

In Forde, small business is the primary employer of our local workforce; it is the engine room of our local economy. Since coming into government, we have actioned a number of items from the policies that we took to the election to ensure this sector is given the critical support it needs to thrive and prosper. We have appointed a small business minister in cabinet and moved small business from Industry to Treasury. We have moved to protect the privacy of home-based businesses on the business names register and implemented a dedicated small business support line with Fair Work Australia. We have begun the process of a root and branch review of the competition laws, with the release of draft terms of reference. In the House we have passed legislation to remove the pay clerk burden from the Paid Parental Leave scheme for employers, but as with many things this is being held up in the Senate by Labor's go-slow. We have passed legislation to remove the carbon tax and introduced new assistance measures for small businesses affected by natural disasters in the form of concessional loans of up to $100,000 which will be administered by state and territory governments.

Work has also commenced with the states to build the roads of the 21st century, because people do not want to spend their lives sitting in cars backed up on highways—especially not self-employed business people who spend 12-hours-plus a day running their businesses. In Forde, the M1 from Loganholme to Daisy Hill is a car park during peak hours. I will continue to push for a resolution to this issue for my community.

Unfortunately, as we reflect on this and many other things, I think we need to remember that the previous Labor government's wasteful spending—resulting in $123 billion in accumulated budget deficits over the forward estimates, with gross debt heading towards $667 billion—means that it is going to be very difficult to find funding to fix these problems. But least with the new government there is now some hope as we seek to get the books back into order.

One of the biggest issues in the Forde electorate is the need for an upgrade to the overpass on the M1 at Exit 54 in Upper Coomera. What can be a 10-minute trip for some residents can take up to 40 minutes during the peak hour. A couple of weeks ago I had a number of meetings with local business people in that community. They are also complaining about that traffic issue, as it is significantly affecting productivity and their ability to get to jobs quickly and efficiently. Whilst there is no immediate commitment from the government on these projects, as with the M1, I am intent on seeking a resolution to these issues on behalf of my electorate until they are resolved.

We do, however, have a commitment to reduce the compliance burden on small business by cutting overall costs to business of existing regulations by at least $1 billion each year. It is pleasing to note that this is being assisted by local councils such as the Logan City Council, who are making great strides in reducing red tape hurdles for new development projects.

On the topic of burdening small business, we have already passed legislation in the house to remove Labor's crippling carbon tax—yet again held up in the Senate by Labor's go-slow. Small business was not able to pass on the cost of the carbon tax as easily as big business and trading conditions have been tough enough without the increased costs of the carbon tax that compound along the supply chain. I have previously shared an example of the cost impost on electricity alone for one of my local businesses. A commercial drycleaner in my electorate, Aarons Linen in Meadowbrook, faced an increase in their electricity spend after the carbon tax was introduced and had to find close to an additional $100,000 per year. On the subject of improving the cost of running a business, the coalition has pledged to reduce the company tax rate by 1.5 per cent from 1 July 2015. All of these moves are part of our Real Solutionsplan to create one million new jobs over five years.

In September last year, it was reported by the ABS that local unemployment figures in Forde had reached 6.32 per cent, which was up from 6.17 per cent in June 2013. So I am very pleased to be part of a government that seeks to create new jobs for our local communities with more opportunities for work, not just for the monetary reasons but also for the sense of satisfaction and personal pride for people who are able to work and contribute to our society.

Two years ago, a local causeway in my electorate suffered damage to its foundations from flooding. The local community were impacted by lengthy delays, as the causeway was reduced to one lane while a new causeway was being built. During this time, I had the opportunity to meet with the company that was constructing the new causeway and to seek information as to what options there would be in terms of the repair of the bridge but, more importantly, the options for local businesses to take part in that rebuilding project. I was surprised to hear that local small businesses in the construction and engineering industry, despite their attempts to jump through the various hoops of the onerous tendering processes, were unable to secure a government contract directly. The coalition understand small business, and we know they face significant obstacles in securing government contracts. Tender documents and accompanying obligations, including requirements to have very expensive insurance, can be overly complex and impose barriers for small businesses, including in my electorate, to secure government contracts. The coalition seeks to improve small business access to Commonwealth contracts and will commit $3 million towards the implementation of this initiative designed to actively encourage small-business participation in this area.

As I mentioned earlier, we have outlined some 23 initiatives to strengthen the small businesses sector in Australia. For businesses to thrive, their customers need to feel safe and confident about the future ahead. Forde remains one of the fastest growing regions in South-East Queensland and it has often been overlooked. But, under this government, a number of commitments have been made to achieve better outcomes for our local businesses.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would love to be able to stand up here today and support a motion by the government which pats itself on the back for its support for small business! I would love to be able to do that because I would actually love it to be true. If I thought it was true, as a person who ran my own small business and then ran a trade association for small business for nearly seven years I would love to be able to do that. But, unfortunately, as in so many areas for this government, the rhetoric is profoundly different from the reality.

This notion, this statement that we keep hearing over and over again, about the Abbott government being the government for small business is a fraud. The member for Forde confirmed that in the last lines of his contribution today. He talked about the 23 initiatives of the government. The government has been in office for six months, and the only delivery that he could mention today was improving privacy for the business names register. That is a register, by the way, which used to be six registers until quite recently—until the Labor government combined them into one, significantly reducing the red tape and cost burden for small business. The improvement to privacy is a very important improvement made by the government, but that is it. The rest of what the member for Forde talked about today, particularly at the end, was about commitments: 'We've made commitments to the electorate of Forde.' But let us look at what they have actually done.

The member for Forde talked about the concessional loans for businesses affected by the natural disaster—the fires in the Blue Mountains that happened just after the election. On this side of the House we screamed as loud as we could about those concessional loans, because in October, November and December they still did not exist. Businesses were struggling in the Blue Mountains through October, November and December after one of the worst natural disasters they had seen in that region. A nice promise—no delivery.

Government Member:

A government member interjecting—

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member is saying it is all the state government's fault. Do not pretend to be the government, do not pretend you can do it, if you are not going to deliver it. In December the website for the relevant agency suddenly announced that the concessional loans would be available. In late January small business in the Blue Mountains still had not been told. The paperwork for them to actually get the loans still did not exist. So the member for Forde is true when he says: we will deliver concessional loans. Six months after coming to government and some six months after a disaster—just up the road from me—they will, when they get around to it, actually deliver concessional loans.

Let us look at their complete lack of action on assistance for small business affected by the closure of major manufacturers. We are likely to see tens of thousands of small manufacturers and small businesses go out of business because of the closure of those major manufacturers. We have not heard a word from this government—which professes to be all about small business—about what assistance it is going to give those small businesses to transition in this incredibly important time.

Let us look at the abolition of the instant tax write-off—a $3.2 billion slug on the tax bill of small businesses in this country through three actions, including the abolition of the loss carry-back scheme as of July last year, even though the legislation is not through the parliament yet. The government has not told anyone about it, and when this legislation does go through it will retrospectively change it. There are businesses now that are going about their business, with their financial plans and their investment plans done for the year on the basis of existing tax law, and the government, which is going to slug them with a $3.2 billion extra tax bill, has not bothered to tell them. The instant tax write-off is incredibly important. It was asked for by the Henry tax review, because, if you have had anything to do with small business, you will know that the depreciation schedules for small business are incredibly difficult. This measure actually allows a small business to claim an instant tax write-off for every asset worth less than $6,500, which means your new fridge, your new desks or your new computers. Then, of course, there is the tax write-off of $5,500 for vehicles. These are gone as of 1 January, even though the legislation is not through the parliament yet and even though there has been no attempt by the government to tell small business that this $3.2 billion slug is on its way for them—not a word from the government that professes to be for small business.

Let us look at the government walking away from the National Food Plan. This one has not had much coverage yet. The food plan that was introduced by Labor last year was absolutely welcomed by the agricultural sector, particularly the food processing sector. It looked at the whole agricultural sector from farm to plate and had a very strong strategy for developing those incredibly important food processing elements of the industry, which are growth areas—gone completely.

The agricultural white paper deals with farm gate profitability. The small business sector in agriculture is on its own, just like the small business sector that supports vehicle manufacturing and our major manufacturers and just like the small business sector in the Blue Mountains that was promised concessional loans. The government are still promising to deliver them at some point, six months later. This is a government with amazing rhetoric and an appalling reality.

Let us look at the government's plans for deregulation—the hoax of a repeal day that we are going to see coming up in the next month or so. In most cases, it is going to repeal regulation which is redundant and has no effect on anything, and we know that absolutely.

We also know that there are a couple of things that this government has in their sights for small business that will be incredibly damaging for small business. They are not out there consulting with small business; small business is not at the table on this like they promised. The government promised to have small business the table. We have not heard a word from the small business minister and certainly, from my conversations with business, there has been no attempt whatsoever to talk to them.

The first one is the Aussie jobs act. The member for Forde talked about how important it is for small business to get access to government contracts. The Howard government did nothing for 13 years on that. We did a great deal. We dramatically increased the number of small businesses that accessed government contracts. But there is another area: the commercial contracts—the $300 billion worth of building that is in the pipeline at the moment on major, mainly resource, projects through this country. The Aussie jobs act requires that a project which is worth more than $500 million have a strategy in place to share some of the work with Australian businesses. This government plans to abolish the Aussie jobs act. This government—which supposedly cares about small business, which has this plan in place and which is likely to do it next March—has not consulted with small business or invited them to the table and is about to do something that will shut out Australian businesses from one of the biggest booms we have seen in a long time.

If the member genuinely thinks that they are already shut out then perhaps, instead of abolishing the Aussie jobs act—which actually improves their ability—he could come up with an idea and implement it instead of walking into this House and saying, 'We've made commitments. We're really good for small business. Six months into government I've made commitments to the people of Forde'. You won; you are the government. It is about time you started delivering. We delivered more than you without the numbers, in a hung parliament. We had to negotiate every single piece of legislation through a whole range of different people to get anything through this House, and we managed to do it. The excuses that this government is coming up with for why it is all words and no action are truly appalling.

Let us look at the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, which is also in the sights of this government. The tribunal helps to ensure that owner-drivers, who incidentally are small businesses in every sense of the word, can be paid a rate which allows them to pay off their truck and drive it safely. They can insure, register and maintain their truck, and they can drive reasonable hours.

We all know, because we have seen the stories—the stories about a number of large retailers in particular—that the rates being paid to drivers without that protection are going down and down and that we are seeing ever more trucks on the road which are unsafe and that drivers are driving for far too long. It is an incredibly important piece of regulation for the small business sector and, once again, it is gone. Where is the consultation? Where is this promise that small business would be at the table? Maybe that is a commitment like all the other commitments. Maybe it is a commitment which says: 'At some point maybe you will be at the table, but not when this incredibly important piece of legislation goes before this House and certainly not in the lead up to it.'

This is an incredible hoax being perpetrated by this government—a government that six months in has not delivered anything worth talking about for small business and yet persists in propagating this myth that they are the government of small business.

Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was quite an interesting tirade by the member for Parramatta. I will pay it the relevance it deserves. I rise in support of the member for Forde—I know the work he does in his electorate—and in support of the minister. Small business does have a real and passionate voice now, and it is around the cabinet table. The way that the Minister for Small Business and the cabinet run this process has been, to me as a new member, revealing and so pleasing because it is consultative. As much as the member for Parramatta would like to tell you that small business does not have a voice at the table, our job as local members is to be the voice talking to the minister—we are their voice. So it is a pleasure to rise to speak here.

I would probably change the wording of the motion just slightly from that of the member for Forde: they are not only essential, they are the backbone of our economy. We have an employment problem right now that will not be solved by government, that will not be solved by big business or unions. It will be solved by this vital part. What the member for Parramatta—who claims that we have had six months and that we are a government of talk and no action—failed to mention at any time is that her government's results are there for all to see. Under the previous Labor government—I note she did not address this at all—412,000 jobs were lost in this sector. Our job is to listen and plug in.

I would like to add to the words of the member for Forde about the role in all of this of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Ministers and our role, which is to feed in to him. I will not reiterate all of his wonderful points. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister has been given the role of reducing red tape and regulation. I note that the member for Parramatta conveniently made reference to 26 March, which is our first omnibus repeal—our regulation abolition day, if you like. The 8,000 pieces that we will abolish that day are not enough. In fact, they are nearly one-third of the 21,000 regulations that the Labor government put in during the previous six years.

Today, my role as a backbencher is, as it should always be, to challenge the ministers of the day, the ministers of this government, to do more. It is one thing to talk about red tape; it is another thing to demonstrate what it actually is. I am going to tell you a story about the day that rolled oats became a dangerous chemical. The chemicals in this country come under three jurisdictions: the Therapeutic Goods Administration, the TGA; the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, the APVMA; and the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme, the NICNAS. This crosses the ministries of health, agriculture and small business. If we are to be serious as a government about reducing red tape, we need to look at the role that departments and cross-ministerial borders play. Cost-recovery models, such as those we see in the TGA, APVMA and NICNAS, do not sit on budgets; they recover the costs. It is an impost passed onto small business. My challenge today to the ministers of this government is to work together across borders, to consolidate these departments, to have them working consultatively with business. I will give you the best example. A chemical brought into Australia, if it comes from the US or the UK, has to go through a process which costs around $100,000, when it has already gone through this process in a jurisdiction that, I am sure you would admit, is like our own. This same thing happened with NICNAS. A cosmetic company wanted to put out a pack for kids, which included a packet of rolled oats. In this jurisdiction, if cosmetic companies are putting out a pack they have to put everything through NICNAS. NICNAS did not have a classification for this and wrote the following: 'Thank you for your letter regarding the proposed introduction of steamed rolled oats in a children's activity cosmetic toy kit. NICNAS considers that steamed rolled oats does not meet the definition of naturally occurring chemical. Steamed rolled oats will therefore meet the definition of a new industrial chemical.' Thus ruling out and sending the company elsewhere to try and gain approval. This is an example of how silly red tape and regulation is.

Through the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, reporting directly to the Prime Minister and the wonderful ministers of the Crown, this government stands committed to getting behind small business. I know they will. It is an honour to rise again in support of this motion and stand for small business.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am always thankful of any opportunity to talk about small business, because it really is the engine room and the backbone of the Australian economy. While this is a good motion, it does not tell you the difference between the actual record of Labor in government and what the Liberal-National Party coalition government is actually doing. The coalition needs to seriously reflect on this motion, given the actions that the government has already taken. What has it done to date? Its commitment to small business from 1 January 2014 has been to take away, rip out, $4 billion of direct tax assistance from small businesses. This is not how you help small business.

Under Labor, you could immediately write-off each business related asset costing less than $6½ thousand. This was much appreciated and much taken up by the small business community because it was direct assistance. Under Tony Abbott and Bruce Billson, this has been reduced, from 1 January this year, to just $1,000. That will hurt small business. Under Labor, small business could claim up to $5,000 as an immediate deduction for a new or used motor vehicle. This has been completely scrapped by this new government. So while we go and help small business directly—not just talk about it, but actually do something directly—this government talks about helping small business but actually takes the assistance away.

These two initiatives for small business and sole traders alone were introduced to help with cash flow, which, if anyone who understands small business knows, is one of the main issues that affects small business. It is not just me saying this. The Australian Industry Group said that the small business asset write-off threshold should not be reduced from $6,500 to $1,000, because it would add an extra administrative burden. So this is a government that is adding burdens according to AiG. The so-called savings to the budget of this repeal are $2.9 billion, but it is $2.9 billion levied on small business. You are taking it away from small business. How does that help small business? Tell those 2.7 million small businesses how charging them more helps them.

There was an even better one that we put in place; it was the first time in Australian history that we had the tax loss carry-back. We had recognised, when talking to small business, that there ought to be an opportunity for them to claim losses back on tax that they had already paid if they made losses in a particular year during difficult times. That was the first time that was ever done. It was really well taken up and was worth $950 million. It meant that today a small business could get a cash rebate from the government on tax paid in the past. This was something that small business understood and appreciated. They understood it to the value of nearly a billion dollars. That is how much they understood and how much they valued it. Across the country, 110,000 small businesses made use of this Labor initiative that has now been taken away by Tony Abbott and Bruce Billson. So, again, while they talk about being a friend of small business and helping them, what they actually do in action is the exact opposite. Peter Anderson of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the tax loss carry-back and the instant asset write-off were also recognised as very good stimulus measures for small business. Again, that is another person backing Labor in terms of our record.

Rather than just the rhetoric we hear from the other side, the facts are that Labor has a great record in government supporting the engine room of the Australian economy—small business, including sole traders. For the record, because you will hear in this place that somehow under us there were less small businesses or less people being employed, as at June 2009 there were a bit over two million actively trading businesses in Australia, and that rose to 2.14 million as at June 2012. The number went up, activity went up and small businesses prospered under Labor.

In fact, when it comes to employment under us, the unemployment rate was always a little bit too high I thought but around 5.5 to 5.7 per cent. What we are seeing under the Liberal government is unemployment hitting six per cent for the first time in a decade, and that will go to 6¼ per cent. While we may have forecasted that, there is a simple thing to understand here: Tony Abbott said, 'If we get into government, we'll do a better job.' If you are just going to say, 'We'll just keep whatever Labor had in place,' then you are supposed to be doing a better job. The facts will always remain that under us unemployment was lower and that under you unemployment is higher. They are just indisputable facts.

Labor also introduced the national system for registering business names, which was one of the most time and money saving and cost-effective measures you could put in place. We also streamlined the business reporting requirements. We introduced the R&D tax offset for small business, the prompt payment protocol and the Wein review looking at the franchising sector to make sure there was a balance. I applaud any motion that highlights the issues of small business, especially if it gives me the opportunity to talk about the positive things that Labor did in government. We did things; you just talk them.

Debate adjourned.