Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Prime Minister. Only $1.8 billion of the announced $40 billion SME loan guarantee scheme, meant to help small businesses through the coronavirus crisis, had been delivered by mid-September. How can small business trust the Prime Minister to deliver anything he announced in the budget to help small businesses, when he still hasn't delivered on his last announcement?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can confirm that 19,419 businesses have benefited from our small and medium-sized enterprise scheme and just over $1.8 billion of loans have been made. The question is asking about our ability to deliver on our commitments in response to the COVID crisis. I would like to inform the honourable member that total government support and payments already being made in response to the COVID crisis is $112.4 billion. In terms of JobKeeper there's $60.4 billion; in terms of the cash-flow boost there's $28.6 billion; in terms of the two economic support payments—the $750 payments—the first was $5.5 billion and the second was $3.8 billion; in terms of the coronavirus supplement there's $14.1 billion; and in terms of the pandemic leave disaster payment there's $14.7 million. That was even before we gave people access to their own money with early access to superannuation. In the first early release $20.1 billion of payments were made, and in the second so far it's $15.6 billion.

These are measures that have been designed to strengthen and boost the Australian economy. Those on this side of the House, and indeed the Australian community, know that the Morrison government stands with small business, understanding that they are the backbone of the economy. We have cut taxes for small business. Last night we announced a number of measures, including the immediate expensing, the loss carry-back measure, which is designed to boost small business. As the minister for infrastructure is well aware, when you have a major project it supports small businesses right across the country. Only this side of the House stands every day with small business.