Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) there are 2.1 million small businesses in Australia, accounting for 97 per cent of businesses in Australia;

(b) the small business sector employs almost five million Australians;

(c) Australia's small businesses are at their best when Australians shop locally;

(d) the Government has:

  (i) a plan to cut taxes for Australia's small businesses;

  (ii) backed small business with access to the $20,000 instant asset write-off programme;

  (iii) a plan to increase by 90,000, the number of small businesses to which this programme applies; and

  (iv) levelled the playing field for small businesses online through changes to GST on purchases from overseas; and

(e) small business confidence was at a six-year high in January 2017; and

(2) calls on all Australians to:

(a) continue to support Australia's small business sector by shopping locally;

(b) use local providers of goods and services—including those online—to drive future job creation, higher wages and better opportunities for Australians;

(c) take advantage of changes to Australia's Country of Origin labelling system to buy Australian products; and

(d) think local first with every dollar they spend.

Salary earners, shopkeepers, skilled artisans, professional men and women, and farmers: these are the decent hardworking Australians Robert Menzies had in mind when he made his Forgotten People speech in 1942 and, shortly after, founded the modern Liberal Party in 1944. Owner-operators, family and small businesses are the powerhouse of Australia's economy and the Turnbull government has their best interests at heart.

Supporting small businesses helps grow the economy and benefits all Australians. There are 2.1 million small businesses in Australia. We are backing these small businesses because it is these businesses that create the jobs and opportunities hardworking Australians deserve and need. It is these businesses that keep our economy and our nation strong.

In Boothby we have 9,270 small businesses and they are experiencing the very real benefits of this government's policies. We have cut their taxes to the lowest level in 50 years and are stimulating economic growth. We have cut red and green tape to the tune of $5.8 billion because we know that unnecessary paperwork is a huge burden for small business. We have ensured there is a whole-of-government approach to reducing the reporting burden on business, simplifying BAS and embracing technology consistent with the government's digital transformation agenda. We are allowing businesses to reinvest in themselves and their workforce with a $20,000 instant asset write-off program that helps hardworking Australians build their businesses, and supports other local businesses that they buy from.

In terms of agriculture, I have one of the world's premier agricultural and viticultural research institutes in my electorate: Adelaide University's Waite Research Institute. I also come from a long line of family farmers, so I am very interested in how the Turnbull government is also supporting hardworking farmers. The agricultural white paper is a $4 billion investment in our farmers. It is helping them get better returns at the farm gate through free trade agreements, export deals, better regulation and an improved tax system. Our Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell AO, is giving small businesses a voice and specialised assistance. Through the Small Business Advisory Service and business.gov.au, we are giving small businesses and family enterprises a hand-up with low-cost advisory services, as well as information on starting, running and growing a business.

I extend my very sincere thanks to the Minister for Small Business, the Hon. Michael McCormack, who visited my electorate of Boothby in February with representatives from the ACCC and ATO and with Kate Carnell to speak with businesses directly. The minister's small business roadshows are a huge hit with local businesses that are enthusiastic about the opportunity to have their questions answered and their opinions heard. I am grateful to my hardworking business owners locally, like Ben and Marika at Mitcham Newsagency, Jeff at Banana Boys, Michael at the Hub Shoe Repairs, Troy at the Edge Deli, and Rose, George and Haefa at the Middle Store, for letting me know on a regular basis about the issues that are important to them and to their businesses.

Listening to our businesses has never been more important than right now in South Australia. The biggest issue at the roadshow and when I am out and about in the electorate is by far the affordability and reliability of power supply. With the highest power prices in Australia, many businesses are at risk of reducing their staff numbers, passing on higher costs to customers or, worse, closing. Businesses are investing in power-saving technology and generators. They are spending thousands upon thousands of dollars that they should be investing in growing their business or employing more staff, because state Labor cannot keep the power on and cannot keep the lights on.

The contrast between us and those opposite could not be more stark. While federally the coalition supports those who keep the economy going, Labor just makes doing business harder. While federally we have the lowest taxes in 50 years, in South Australia state Labor has us paying the highest taxes and charges in the nation. It is not just businesses that suffer under these conditions; my home state has the highest unemployment and underemployment in Australia. For our community, which is already struggling after 15 years of state Labor, each and every job loss is a blow that our economy cannot handle. While Premier Jay Weatherill pulls stunts on the national stage, people are hurting. There can be no better example of why we must support small businesses, and why we are, than what state Labor has done to our economy. I congratulate the Turnbull government on all that we are doing for small businesses and family businesses. I commend the motion to the House.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to respond to the motion put forward by the member for Boothby. This motion very accurately spells out the significance of small business in Australia. It is a shame that the member's speech did not reflect that accuracy. It reflects the importance of shopping locally and supporting local small business owners, and, in turn, their employees. In my electorate of Lindsay in Western Sydney, we are home to a large number of small businesses. Our community is characterised by hard work and determination, and our small business owners are a shining example of these qualities. We have brilliant cafes in our town centres that would rival even the most hipster cafes of Newtown, like Simon's cafe Screaming Beans on High Street, my smashed avo and feta destination of choice. We have tradies who get up each morning to build and repair our rapidly growing region, like Luke from Leonay Plumbing and Paul from PCB Services. We have high-quality local services that keep professional people in our region, like the newly opened One Point Health facility. This keeps local dollars in our region too. And we have hugely successful home businesses like Savvy Cakes and Bordeaux Candles that ultimately allow parents to spend more time with their families, and help working people with their work/life balance.

Now, we know that this is not exclusive to Lindsay, but it is replicated throughout Australia. As the motion rightly points out, there are 2.1 million small businesses across our country, and a large proportion of these small businesses are crucial to our economy and employment locally. I say a large proportion because 62.3 per cent of all small businesses are non-employing businesses, but the remaining 771,000 businesses employ around five million Australians, so it is crucial that we support small business as much as we can.

Of course, what we should not be doing—and Labor have made this clear all along—is dress up government subsidies for big business as some sort of hand up for small business. You do not help small business owners and employees by misappropriating billions of dollars of hard-earned taxpayer money by giving it straight to the big four banks—and that is all we have heard from Liberals in this place and all around the country. Their business tax plan is woefully targeted, and the people of Australia know exactly what it is: a tax cut for this government's big business mates and donors at the expense of small business owners and those struggling to get by. It will add, for those obsessed by the debt and deficit, $4 billion in extra interest to our country's bottom line.

Last year Labor took an incredible package of small business policies to the election. These were sensible and practical measures to assist small business owners achieve justice in the marketplace and reduce unnecessary impediments to their ongoing success. We supported a small business tax cut which would have applied to 83 per cent of Australian companies—those that have an annual turnover of up to $2 million, which is rightly reflective of an actual small business. This measure would greatly assist small businesses in my community. In fact, it is a policy I have spoken to many business owners about, and it is well supported.

Another element to local small business success is, as the motion correctly points out, a shop local mentality that supports local business owners and their employees. In my electorate, we are well serviced by the Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Penrith Business Alliance and the Nepean Business Network, all of whom build on the skills of our local business owners and promote local enterprise within our community. I have seen it observed on a small business shopfront that 'when you buy from small business, you're not helping a CEO buy a third holiday home. You're helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey, and helping parents put food on the table and pay a mortgage.'

I will always encourage local families to shop locally and support small business because I know how hardworking and dedicated small business owners. I also know how integral and connected each of them are within our community, with many of these giving back generously to local charity.

It is interesting to note that the member for Boothby has mentioned and praised the government's instant asset write-off in her motion. What she has neglected to mention is that it was the previous Labor government that first introduced this policy, and—hardly any surprises here—you guys, the Liberals, opposed and trash-talked its introduction. In fact, the former member for Dunkley, Bruce Billson, who was the shadow minister for small business before the 2013 election, and then the Minister for Small Business following that election, had completely contradictory things to say about this important policy before and after that time. Before the election, he said the policy was rubbish and proceeded to abolish it after coming to government. Of course, in what can only be described as a blinding reversal of ignorance and political opportunism, the policy was re-established and is now heralded as a success by those opposite, because they are obviously not clever enough to come up with their own policies. That can only be seen as an endorsement of Labor's sensible policies to assist small business. Their actions on this matter can only be seen as a reflection of their priorities: when it comes to small business, they would much rather play politics and rubbish Labor instead of getting on with the job and supporting small business owners.

One other thing that would greatly assist small business owners in my electorate is to ensure that working people in our area have enough money to shop there. Cutting $77 a week from the take-home pays of 700,000 Australians will do nothing for them. (Time expired)

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Shop small: it is something that pretty much everyone supports in principle. We all support it, but why don't we do it more? Why don't more Australians do it? American Express commissioned research for its Shop Small campaign and found that nine out of 10 people say they feel disappointed—sad, even—when their small local businesses closed down. Most say that small businesses contribute to community identity. They feel guilt and regret for not shopping local. But, at times, we all shop at places like Westfield. We say we want to shop local and we want to shop small, and we do not need research to tell us that this aligns with what small business wants us to do.

Shop local is a somewhat fragmented grassroots movement that has failed to evolve into a meaningful or enduring form. It remains an ideal or aspiration. As consumers, we talk the talk on shopping locally, but we are just not putting our money where our mouth is. While nine out of 10 people feel disappointed when local businesses close down, 94 per cent admit to forgetting to shop small. The reality, clearly, is that they are not top of mind.

The coalition government is committed to small business and to ensuring that businesses are able to compete in a way that elevates the idea of shopping local to more than just an ideal. Our multi-pronged plan will support their success and includes a number of important elements—elements that I know, having run a small business, will streamline procedure, increase efficiency, relieve unnecessary burden and enable small business to get on with the job. The first step in change is often to listen, so I welcome the small-business roadshows currently underway—and I note that the member for Boothby mentioned that the roadshow came to her electorate. Canvassing input and exchanging ideas, the roadshows are linking small business directly with the ACCC, the ombudsman and the ATO as well as the Minister for Small Business. Providing valuable feedback and constructive in nature, they have the added benefit of putting a friendly face to the taxman. One thing we hear time and time again is the burden that compliance can bring. Efficiency is not helped by unnecessary overadministration. Regulation is one thing, but excessive red tape is another. The simplification of the business activity statement and the introduction of the SuperStream payments are great examples of sensible, practical efficiencies that are helping businesses to work smarter. The instant asset tax write-off, which the member opposite just spoke about, is an absolutely fantastic initiative for businesses turning over up to $10 million. What we want to see is those opposite supporting those businesses in their electorates—because I believe that is where the biggest growth will be. This measure will help jobs and sales. It will be really beneficial to electorates right across the country. We know that in countries like the US the instant asset tax write-off is unlimited. It is available to businesses turning over $1 billion and more. So supporting it for businesses turning over up to $10 million would be a great initiative and a way to help workers locally.

If we want to encourage Shop Small, we need to apply new methods. Supporting small local businesses by freeing up time empowers their quest for success. Every moment is vital. I welcome the impact of the Fair Work Commission decision for its capacity to assist Shop Small. In an age when convenience is king, being able to afford to open your doors longer puts you in touch with the key market driver. Boosting support, information and the ability to compete on convenience helps businesses to grow from within. This, in turn, pays dividends for both small businesses and the surrounding community. Rather than transplanting success from outside, which invariably brings discernible change, facilitating sustainable, locally grown businesses enhances a region's identity.

The Enterprise Tax Plan is a vital cog in the wheel of the good health of small business and yields exponential advantage. One thing the Leader of the Opposition and I agree on is, as Bill Shorten has said in the past:

… corporate tax reform helps Australia's private sector grow and it creates jobs right up and down the income ladder.

I could not have said it better myself, but he has done a backflip on that, as has every other member opposite. We have cut the small-business tax rate to the lowest level it has been in 50 years and we will continue to support small business.

Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On first glancing at this motion, I would expect that not one member of parliament representing their local electorate, just like I am, would disagree about shopping local. Absolutely—nobody would not agree that we should shop local. But that is where my agreement with this motion will end. In my role standing up for the people of my electorate of Longman, I cannot completely agree with this motion because I completely disagree with the member for Boothby and her government's illogical, ill-conceived so-called support for local businesses. Maybe it is just because I have not had big-business donors or lobbyists whispering in my ear that I find it really hard to believe that $50 billion in tax cuts will help any of the local businesses in my electorate. Maybe it is because I do not accept or believe that showering corporates with money is how you strengthen local businesses. I accept and I support real support that comes from developing quality, reliable and worthwhile infrastructure that supports businesses and start-ups.

Nearly every week, I hear from a different small business in my electorate of Longman that has had enough of this government's horrible mistreatment of communications infrastructure. Just last week—and you will be keen to hear this, Member for Boothby—I spent time consulting with local businesses in my community, and we talked about the NBN and cellular phone coverage. Each and every one of those businesses said to me that they feel like this government has thrown them under a bus. You can give Cathie a call, if you like. She owns Real Food Snacks. She is a great local woman. She was one of those business owners. She told me that she had apparently been upgraded to the NBN, but her internet is cripplingly slow. How can she be expected to compete, when it takes days to upload just 10 image files? What alternative does she have since the switch to the NBN? She does not have a fax line because the NBN cut out her fax line. Can you believe that? It cut out her fax line. But surely she could ring people on her mobile phone? If it were not for the horrible black spots in the area, she could probably do that. But guess what. She cannot. It is 2017. Despite that, she cannot fax, she cannot call on her mobile and she does not have a reliable NBN.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I do not mind interjections, but let's not let them get to a level where I cannot hear the speaker.

Susan Lamb (Longman, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was just about to note that the Prime Minister and the previous member for Longman both promised that every home in Longman would be connected by 2016. It is 2017. I will just put on the record that it is a little bit late. It really is impossible for small businesses in Longman to compete when they are forced to rely upon things like smoke signals and telegrams because we have no NBN and no mobile phone coverage that is reliable.

Where I will agree is that it would be great if Australians shopped local. I absolutely agree with that. It would be great if, in the words of Ms Flint, Australians 'think local first with every dollar they spend'. Actually, let me rephrase that. It would be great if Australians could think local first with every dollar they spend. Instead, hardworking Australians are thinking, 'Can I afford to feed my family this week? Can I afford the bus or the train ticket? Can I afford to pay my bills?' Erin is a local worker who is getting by financially, just. She is helping to raise her two sisters while she works and studies full time. She is concerned that she will not be able to cope for very long, because she works in retail and is about to get a penalty rate cut. It is a bit sad. I do not know why you are smiling, because she works in retail and is about to get a penalty rate cut. When you are barely scraping by and you are about to lose $70 from your take-home pay each week, it is the local businesses that will miss out—cafes, restaurants, newsagents and tradies. Who is going to ask for a new kitchen or a garden shed from their tradie if their penalty rates have just been cut? The member for Boothby moved this motion today, but I believe the most effective way to support small businesses is to make sure they get the quality infrastructure they need and to protect their penalty rates.

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the honourable member for Fisher, I note that his hairstyle is both high speed and very becoming!

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker! I have spent most of my adult life operating my own small businesses, unlike those opposite. It is not always a comfortable life, but it is a choice made by millions of Australians and one upon which Australia relies. Small businesses employ 45 per cent of workers in this country. We all know how important that growing contribution is going to be as the economy changes. The motion lists four fantastic initiatives that the government has undertaken to encourage and support small businesses—four out of many. It does not even begin to mention the billions of dollars a year we have saved companies by cuts to unnecessary red tape, the government's moves to cut tax for the country's thousands of unincorporated small businesses or the millions of dollars that the government has invested to support small farming businesses. I hope that other members will elaborate on these and other commendable actions.

I want to talk about two specific initiatives. The first of these is something that residents of my electorate would have heard me talking about for some time—that is, we must make it easier for small businesses to do business with the federal government. As we have heard, the small business minister has challenged us to think locally first. The government has certainly taken this challenge on board. We have created a standard suite of simplified contract and tender documents for Commonwealth procurement, and made credit and debit cards the government's preferred payment method for purchases under $10,000. In the last budget, the Treasurer also announced that we would explore electronic invoicing.

These measures make it easier for local Australian small businesses to win Commonwealth contracts. Already we are seeing 34 per cent of the government's procured goods and services supplied by 23,400 small businesses. The Turnbull government shops locally where it can. These are important initiatives, but there is much more to be done in this space.

My first small business was in the construction sector. There are more than 300,000 small businesses in that sector who have recently had their chances of a bright future substantially improved by the Turnbull government's reintroduction of the ABCC. Since Labor abolished the ABCC, the CFMEU have become experts in wasting time and bullyboy tactics. The knock-on effects on the mum-and-dad contractors of these go-slow shenanigans can be disastrous. For them, with tight margins and insecure cash flow, it too often means that their business has had to fold. The ABCC will stamp out this corruption and lawlessness, and give small businesses a fighting chance.

Without the ABCC, unions have also been forcing contractors to use union-preferred suppliers, generally a euphemism for expensive, heavily-unionised friends of the union bosses. The act introduces a new building code to protect smaller subcontractors from these unfair practices. In the future, if you want to get a contract to do building work on behalf of the federal government, you will have to ensure that your business complies with the building code, and this will result in small businesses getting a fair go.

All of these changes will make a big difference but, in some ways, the most important is yet to some. Taxes are a significantly bigger problem for small businesses than they are for larger enterprises. When your turnover is modest and every dollar is precious, handing over 28½ per cent of your profits to the taxman does not leave you a great deal to reinvest in your company.

The Turnbull government's enterprise tax plan is currently before the House. If passed, it will deliver millions in savings to small businesses in this country. In many cases, these reductions in tax rates will be enough to allow small businesses to take on another full-time member of staff. For others, it will provide the capital to invest in new equipment or cost-saving technology to double down on those gains for the future. In my electorate and all over Australia, people are crying out for more of these growing innovative and successful businesses.

When demographer Bernard Salt was in my electorate recently, he described the Sunshine Coast as the entrepreneurial capital of the nation, and he is right. This government is doing all it can to encourage small business, and this motion is right to call on the people of Australia to join in with their purchasing decisions—that is, to buy locally. But members opposite should also remember this motion and do their bit by voting for the government's enterprise tax plan.

Justine Keay (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome this motion and would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the value of small business in my electorate of Braddon in north-west Tasmania. There are over 6,000 small businesses in my electorate and, to support those small businesses, we have a number of business groups: the Burnie chamber of commerce; the Central Coast chamber of commerce; the Devonport chamber of commerce; the Circular Head Progress Group; the Circular Head Business Group; Queenstown Business Group; Building Somerset's Future; and Citylink Burnie.

All of these groups in different ways support local small businesses with annual awards, promotions, forums and other events—many of which I have attended in my time as an elected member and prior to that. For example, the Circular Head Progress Group and the Circular Head Business Group have combined to create shopping dollars, a scheme whereby the local community can purchase generic vouchers to be redeemed in local businesses. Tania Brown from the Circular Head Business Group was quoted as saying at the launch of the voucher schemes:

"I just think everyone should shop locally, businesses put a lot back into the community.

"If people want their kids to have a job here, they need to shop here. It creates employment."

How true is that? The City Link of Burnie has the ethos 'live, play, shop local' and has a number of promotional activities to support this ethos. The highlight of City Link is their annual awards function, which is always a really enjoyable night for everyone in attendance. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the 2016 City Link award winners: Evanthia Hairdressing, Glow Cosmetics, Health Care Insurance, Palate Food and Drink, The Hidden Fox and B&E Personal Banking. Small businesses in my electorate are doing their part, and government has a role to play in supporting the sector. Labor took to the election a number of policies to support small businesses: plans to help small business access finance, a plan to help small business incorporate, plans to lower the small business company tax rate, plans for new jobs tax cuts and so many other policies that I just do not have time to mention.

The member for Boothby gives her government a pat on the back for levelling the playing field for small businesses online through changes to the GST, which is welcomed, but real issues remain. In my electorate there is a businessman called David Smith from Trooper IT Services. He is filling a gap in the local market, helping people with their IT needs, mobile phone repairs and so forth. But he is competing against the online world, particularly eBay, and he is continuing to encounter problems which just do not seem to get addressed. Sellers on eBay are in breach of eBay policy regarding counterfeit products, seller locations that are not really in Australia and satisfying any ATO obligations, which they do not. I have facilitated David and eBay to work together to resolve these issues in this sector, but government needs to play more of a role in ensuring online sellers meet their legal and ethical requirements. Kirk Pinner from Outside The Square Solutions consistently raises with me the fact that not one local small business in Tasmania has a federal government contract to deliver employment services, yet small businesses like Kirk's know and understand their community much, much more than any interstate multinational.

The member for Boothby also talks about country-of-origin labelling and its role in supporting small business, which is something that I support. Much progress has been made, but it is still an issue that remains in the seafood services sector. Labor has given its bipartisan support to a working group led by the honourable Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, who is leading consultations with the sector. The Tasmanian Salmonid Growers Association has been included as part of the industry consultations. However, it appears the state's principal group, the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council, has been omitted. I have written to the honourable minister to ensure all of Tasmania's key seafood industry groups are given the opportunity to have their say, both aquaculture and wild caught. A large number of participants in Tasmania's wild fisheries are small family business operations, so it is important that they have a voice at the table. They are the backbone of so many regional economies in my state. I hope the minister takes on board my request for TSIC to be included.

Small businesses across so many sectors underpin the Tasmanian economy. Government must continually look at ways to grow and support this vital sector.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Hastie, I have to say that you do look like you need some hydration at the moment—perhaps a wonderful beer like Coopers from a local small business in some other person's electorate might be appropriate on the occasion. But, of course, South Australian small business, which I concede is not my area of expertise, is very well served by the member for Boothby, and I am happy to give her that title. In fact, I congratulate her on bringing this motion on small business to the Federation Chamber, because, when it comes down to it, if you want not just a champion but also a partner who is reliable and predictable you cannot go beyond the member for Boothby, and we congratulate her so much on her enduring success.

But I do want to start by correcting my good friend the member for Fisher, who started his speech with an error—with all due respect to the member for Fisher—and it was that his electorate was the entrepreneur's capital of Australia. That is not true! The entrepreneurial capital of Australia is the wonderful electorate of Goldstein—full of so many people: hardworking Australians who take risks, invest capital and put their energies and their minds into building the future of this nation. If any members, the members here from Victoria, dare scoff at the idea that Victorians could lead this nation—what a disgrace that is to scoff at such an idea!—they are always welcome to go down to the Bayside Business Network in the wonderful electorate of Goldstein and see the hub, the genesis and the energy that comes out of the ideas and entrepreneurialism at the heart of the Goldstein electorate, that I am so proud to represent.

When you consider the economic challenges before us today, it is hard to think of a motion more important to support than this, because within every robust economy small businesses play a vital role in both job creation and creating economic growth. That is what we as Liberals are so passionate about. We need to ensure that Australian entrepreneurialism and small businesses have every bit of backing possible in the current difficult global economic environment. We need to back our businesses to grow and create the opportunities and jobs that we want in this country.

Small business has been central to the coalition government's agenda right from the start. We understand that when small business succeeds, not only do the employers succeed but their employees succeed, and so does this great country. It goes to the heart of who we are as Liberals. We understand that individuals who are entrepreneurial in their behaviour go on to employ people, grow companies and build this nation's future. The government's Enterprise Tax Plan begins with small business for good reasons: because there are 2.1 million small businesses across this great continent and their five million employees deserve the chance to thrive in an increasingly global competitive marketplace. Reducing their tax burden is essential, particularly if we want to make sure we can continue to attract investment into this country to build its future.

Our approach is evidence based—in marked contrast to the shamefully political row the opposition has taken on tax policy, where they like some things when they are in opposition or when they are government, depending on which way the wind blows and where they think they can get a few votes. The worst of that is of course from the opposition leader himself and the shadow Treasurer, who have consistently backed the idea of cutting company taxes up until the point they seek advantage—or, more to the point, that they are prepared to score political points off the back of hardworking small businessmen and women, who want to build businesses to employ people in Australia.

We are the only party left today actually talking about job growth. We are the only party today who actually want to see more Australians employed—that is actually our focus in how we deliver—particularly to cut youth unemployment, to give opportunities to younger Australian so that they can get a foothold in the market and get a job, and then go on to build the environment for security, to buy their own homes, to create a family and to build this nation.

I have to say that the $20,000 instant asset write-off has been an enormous advantage. A high-tax environment means businesses have more difficulty attracting funding and capital. It makes it harder for them to invest in equipment, technology, machinery and—most importantly of all—in their employees. Declining real wages in Australia is concerning and if we want businesses to back their employees, as well as give more people job opportunities, then we have to remain competitive globally. The OECD average corporate tax rate is 25 per cent, while ours is stuck at 30 per cent. It would be nice to join the opposition and pretend that the Australian enterprising community does not have global competition; but we operate in reality, where of course they do. That is why we have to stand tall and we have to stand proud, not just in cutting taxes but also in making sure we give the philosophical commitment, the enduring commitment, to Australia's small business community.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thriving and growing small businesses are vital for regions like mine. In Macquarie, we have more than 10,000 small businesses—many in construction, many are producers, many are professional services, many are manufacturers and many work in retail. There are also many more self-employed people working from home and potentially growing into a business, especially if they are well-supported by government policy. Let's remember my electorate of Macquarie is on Sydney's fringe, so we battle to have enough local jobs to keep people on our mountains or in our lowlands, sparing them the two-hour, on average, each-way commute into the city.

I have to say that I am sick and tired of hearing people like the member for Fisher or the member for Goldstein thinking that they have some arrogant birthright to run a small business. Let's get clear: there are plenty of people on our side who have spent many years in small business, and I am one of them. I grew up in small business as the daughter of a newsagent. I have had my own businesses for up to 30 years, bar the eight months I worked for somebody—a pregnancy—when I came back from I overseas. I was a PAYG earner for eight months of the last 30 years. So it is not an abstract exercise for me. I absolutely get what we need to do and I support the premise that the sector is vital. In fact, it is vital in my electorate.

Regarding the motion by the member for Boothby, some of it puzzles me. She seems to think that the government's job in helping small business is done. Let's take a look. There is a plan to cut taxes for Australian small businesses. That is not law yet. We support a cut for small business, but we do not agree with the view that it should be extended to the biggest multinationals on this globe. She also talked about backing small business with access to an instant asset write-off program, and, as has been pointed out by previous speakers, that was actually our idea. It is a good idea, and it certainly helps business invest fast in things. She talked about levelling the playing field for small businesses online. That is something else that has not yet been passed. To think that the job is done is so short of the mark—that all you have to do now is shop local and small business is somehow fixed. We need a whole lot more than that. That is a lovely thing to do, and I, for one, did all my Christmas shopping locally. But there is much more that governments can do, and I think there are also things governments should not do. Penalty rate cuts is one of those.

I have looked at the impact in my electorate of the cut in penalty rates. You would take $77 a week out of the pay packet of people who would normally spend it locally. That adds up to a lot of money coming out of my local community. Let's look at what we should not do. We should not be cutting penalty rates. What would be great for the businesses in my region is to do something about rents. They can manage their staff based on demand, but they cannot do anything about their overheads, so their rent is their biggest problem.

There are things that we know could be put in place by this government. One is that they could help small business access finance. We are, I think, the only OECD country with no small-business loan guarantee. You have to mortgage or sell your house—my dad had to sell his house to go into business in the seventies—and put your family at risk. That is something that women, in particular, are often reluctant to do. My business partner and I made a choice to grow organically. We did that over many years, but we would have grown a lot faster if we had been able to access a guaranteed small-business loan.

Another thing governments can do is help small business incorporate. My business was incorporated 25 years ago. It gives you asset protection, it helps you retain profits for working capital, it gives you access, if you need it, to capital gains tax discounts where they apply, it gives you succession planning and it allows for income distribution. All those things are missed out on by sole traders, and there are so many who look at the structure and say, 'It's just too hard to become incorporated.'

Another thing this government can do is get NBN right, because my local businesses tell me that, when you have the mishmash of NBN that the electorate of Macquarie is getting—FTTP, FTTC, FTTN, wireless, satellite—those sorts of things are plaguing small business. FTTN is causing outages, slow speeds, connection problems and shocking service. We need to fix those. The best thing this government can do is get its act together on NBN and then they can just let self-employed people get on with it.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for the debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.