Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

  (1) notes:

     (a) the former government provided extensive support for 3.6 million small and medium businesses, which employ almost 8 million Australians, including through tax relief to support investment and reduce costs; energy programs and initiatives to reduce their power bills; and providing billions in support to keep small businesses open and Australians in jobs during the pandemic;

     (b) small and medium businesses will be hurt the hardest by the Government's first round of workplace reforms, which the e61 institute analysis has shown will harm firm growth and hurt competition; and

     (c) that despite promising to only raise taxes on multinationals at the election, the Government has broken promises by raising taxes on superannuation, on unrealised capital gains, on franking credits, and end small business tax incentives; and

  (2) calls on the Government to support the Opposition's amendment to restore the Instant Asset Write Off to pre-COVID levels to boost productivity and take pressure off prices".

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Support for Small Business and Charities and Other Measures) Bill 2023 is an eight-schedule Treasury omnibus bill that implements a range of changes to small-business tax incentives, charity tax arrangements, superannuation complaints, superannuation transfer pricing rules and tax treatment of insurance. While not opposed in principle, the coalition has significant concerns about the design, effectiveness and utility of the small-business incentive, and will examine this through the Senate Economics Legislation Committee. The coalition is also concerned about Labor's plan to create different rules for large superannuation funds and small and self-managed super funds through its changes to the non-arm's-length expenses provision, and will examine this too through the Senate Economics Legislation Committee. While the coalition will support the bill, we will move amendments to recognise failures from Labor to support small and family businesses and to extend the instant asset write-off back to the levels seen in the 2019-20 budget.

Schedule 1 of this bill will mean 26,500 medium-sized businesses will be deprived of access to accelerated depreciation. Sadly, this is just another example of this Labor government turning its back on the small-business community. Small businesses employ almost half of Australia's private sector workforce and represent over 97 per cent of all Australian businesses. Since Labor came to office, small business has been all but abandoned in Labor's draft national platform and is an afterthought, and has been an afterthought, in each budget. Time and time again this government has demonstrated it simply does not understand small business—returning union lawlessness to the construction industry by abolishing the ABCC and the Registered Organisations Commission, removing flexibility from the gig economy, depriving gig economy contractors of the flexibility they rely on and driving up costs for small businesses that use those services. Labor's series of changes to superannuation, award variations and workplace entitlements will make it more expensive for small businesses to employ Australians—and we know what that means; they will employ fewer Australians.

Labor's energy policies are increasing power bills for small businesses that then have to be passed on to consumers in higher prices. Sadly, that means we are not seeing anything like the $275 reduction that was promised by Labor on so many occasions. Even Labor's multinational tax crackdown has been designed so poorly that the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has told the Senate that the law will increase taxes on Australian small businesses. This is an incompetent and distracted government putting in place the wrong policies to support small businesses to prosper and grow. A small business that has to close employs nobody.

Labor's plan for more cost, more red tape and more union power will see small businesses shut their doors in the coming months and years. That's why the coalition is moving amendments. Our amendments will mean 26,500 businesses with aggregate turnover of up to $50 million will be eligible to use the instant asset write-off. The asset threshold will increase from $20,000 to $30,000, allowing businesses to claim accelerated depreciation on a wider range of assets. This aligns the eligibility with the small-business company tax rate and Labor's Small Business Energy Incentive measure contained within the bill. Our amendments would also have a modest additional cost over the forward estimates compared to Labor's measure.

This is a government that is removing measures that would help drive productivity at a time when we have seen a record collapse in labour productivity. We've seen a record collapse in labour productivity in the last 18 months in this country. This bill is just another example of a government that can't manage the economy and that is distracted. While the government has been focused on its divisive and failed referendum, the Reserve Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the OECD all expect inflation to be higher for longer. Minutes of the latest meeting of the Reserve Bank Board suggests that the RBA was tossing up between leaving rates on hold and increasing them again by another quarter of a per cent. Sadly, they made the call to increase, and that is not surprising given the policy and economic context that has been given to them by this government.

Australians need a government that makes reducing the cost of living priorities No. 1, No. 2 and No.3. We aren't seeing that under this government. It is a distracted government. A small business that has to close employs nobody. Labor's plan for more costs, more red tape and more union power will see small businesses shut their doors.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the amendment seconded?

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the amendment and reserve my right to speak.

Debate adjourned.