Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Australian small businesses are at breaking point and are being failed by the Government; and

(2) notes that:

(a) under this Government, a record number of Australian businesses have become insolvent in the most recent financial year, including:

(i) 4,635 businesses in New South Wales;

(ii) 2,863 businesses in Victoria;

(iii) 2,036 businesses in Queensland;

(iv) 733 businesses in Western Australia;

(v) 194 businesses in the Australian Capital Territory;

(vi) 94 businesses in Tasmania; and

(vii) 43 businesses in the Northern Territory; and

(b) this Government is now the worst government for Australian business on record, having surpassed the 10,757 businesses collapsing under the Government of 2011-12; and

(c) Australian small businesses could survive a once-in-a-century pandemic but cannot survive the disastrous policies of this Government.

It is a privilege to rise and talk about small business today. Small businesses play a key part in my community, as they do in the communities of many members across the parliament. They are more than just businesses; they are, in many cases, part of the fabric of the community. I'm going to talk a little bit about how we need to continue to support them and about the challenges they face. As part of that, I want to share the story of a great member of my community who we unfortunately lost last Monday. His name was Sam. Many knew him as 'Amigo' because that's how he greeted the people at his business. The business was officially called the Red Robin Milk Bar, but many people in our community, including my children, simply knew it as the lolly shop.

Not a day would go by, when picking my kids up from school, that I wouldn't hear, 'Can we go to the lolly shop today?' Every time we did—mainly on a Friday, if they'd behaved themselves—Amigo would be there. He was called Amigo because he would greet everyone with, 'Hello, Amigo!' He would talk to the kids. He would treat them as very special people, as little adults, and he would always make sure that they got an extra little treat on the way through.

There was an outpouring of grief through the Mount Evelyn and wider community when Amigo passed away. I was here in Canberra, but I know that when my wife told our children there were tears in our house. There were tears across many houses in our community. It just goes to show that, when we talk about small businesses and family businesses, it's not just the business. They're not just doing it to make a profit. They are providing for their families, but they give so much more.

So I want to pay tribute to Amigo today. He was a husband to Sue, a father to William and Nina, and a man who gave so much to Mount Evelyn and the Casey community. Rest in peace, Amigo. I hope you're sharing lollies up in heaven with many other people.

That's what it is about. It's the people behind these small businesses, and small businesses across my community and across the country are struggling. Over 2,863 businesses in Victoria have declared insolvency since the Albanese Labor government came to power. Across the country, over 10,000 businesses have declared insolvency. That's the highest number since 2011-12. Small businesses are in crisis; they are struggling. Small business is always the business that gets hit first, the reason being that they don't have cash reserves. They don't have the cash reserves of multinationals or the assets on their books to enable them to get loans and extensions from the banks.

At a time when small businesses have their costs and expenses going up and their sales going down, what do we hear from the Minister for Small Business? Nothing. There's silence on support for small business. In almost 2½ years of the Albanese Labor government, the small-business minister has introduced one bill, two months ago, into parliament that was directly related to small business. That's it: 2½ years and one bill. The best initiative we can get from the minister is that, if you invest money that you don't have, you'll get a rebate on a solar panel or a battery. Well, that's nice if you've got the money, but, again, it's just pushing the government's agenda, not actually supporting small businesses.

These are people who have put it all on the line. They've taken out loans against their house. When my old boss, Andrew Blain, bought Yarra Valley Snack Foods, for about six to 12 months he and his wife had to feed their family on baked beans and two-minute noodles, because they paid their employees first. That's all these small businesses in my community—

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Are you going support them to stand up against Woolworths and Coles?

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do support divestiture. I spoke about the need to do more, Member for Kennedy. I spent over a decade working in the FMCG industry, and I saw firsthand the predatory behaviour of Woolworths and Coles and how they punish small businesses and food manufacturers. I was in the room on those conversations. I will support small business, and Woolworths and Coles do need to be brought to account, but the government also has to do more to create the conditions for small business to survive. Small businesses don't want a handout; they just want the ability to go about their business in a strong economic environment. (Time expired)

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is the motion seconded?

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Small businesses and their workers are the backbone of my region. On the New South Wales South Coast we have lots of different businesses—tradies, retailers, providers of hospitality, accommodation and tourism, manufacturers, dairy farmers, health providers and more. It's no wonder that small businesses love the South Coast region. It has so much to offer, including a beautiful environment, beaches, bays, bush and gorgeous villages. It's a great place to raise a family or retire.

Our local businesses on the New South Wales South Coast have been through a lot, from the drought to the Black Summer bushfires, natural disaster after natural disaster, COVID-19 and more natural disasters, but one thing that our local businesses and communities have in spades is a love for community, supporting each other through some of the toughest of times. That's why we have to do everything possible to support our small businesses. We know they are doing it tough, and workers are too. That is why the Albanese government is doing everything possible to provide relief for small businesses where we can.

We provided the $325 energy bill relief for one million small businesses, which businesses in my electorate are starting to benefit from. We provided tax cuts for every taxpayer, which is so important. We know that, when taxpayers have more money in their pay packet, more money is spent in our local businesses, which supports local spending and jobs.

Our Energy Efficiency Grants for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises program is proving very popular and providing much-needed relief in Gilmour. Just recently I announced the 15 local businesses in Gilmour that were successful in receiving an energy efficiency grant. Grants were around $25,000 and were used by businesses to implement new technology to lower energy consumption and energy costs. I was really pleased to deliver a total of $325,000 in grants for these 15 local businesses, which ranged from caravan parks to hospitality providers, manufacturers, a brewery and more.

Just last week I visited one of the successful recipients, a boutique brewery, Dangerous Ales, at Milton. This award-winning brewery has been operating for five years at the Milton Hotel. I was pleased to learn that the grant will help the owners, Damian and Alice, set up new digital tank monitoring technology, which will reduce their energy costs by monitoring their glycol brewing system remotely, using an app. The brewery produces around 200,000 litres of beer per year and supplies artisan beers to local restaurants as well as some major liquor chains and boutique eateries as far away as Tasmania and Western Australia. They produce four or five core beers, including their most popular, Crispy Boi Lager, and release new brews every second or third week.

These grants are part of the Albanese's government's commitment to ease cost-of-living pressures for Australian businesses by putting downward pressure on energy bills without adding to inflation. They are just one of many measures outlined in our small business statement, which outlines $641.4 million in targeted support for small businesses in the recent budget.

I want to take these last moments to give a shout-out to all our amazing local businesses and their workers across Gilmour. Recently I had the pleasure of attending the Eurobodalla Business Awards, hosted by Eurobodalla Shire Council. I have to say this was a wonderful celebration of businesses in the Eurobodalla. On Friday night I attended the Shoalhaven Business Awards, with so many magnificent finalists and award winners. A special shout-out goes to all our Kiama business, ably represented in the Illawarra Business Awards, and well done to the Kiama and District Business Chamber, who always run very progressive and wonderful networking opportunities for local businesses. Thank you to all our small businesses for everything you do to support our workers and communities.

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Casey for raising this very important issue about the record number of insolvencies we're experiencing under the Albanese government, and I commend him on the compassion he showed in his speech. I remember 'the recession we had to have'. The member for Kennedy might have been in the state parliament when that happened, in the early nineties. It was a very difficult time. I remember it because that's when I learned what the word 'insolvency' meant, as I watched my father's small business go through it. The member for Casey did a great job with this. When we talk about insolvency, we're not talking about something that happens to some corporate entity, or some impersonal thing that takes place on sheets of paper. We are talking, particularly for small businesses, about families who suffer the brunt and don't have the cash savings to ride through these sorts of times. When they get hit, they get hit hard.

For us, the car went, the house went and we moved to a different city. For me, that meant a different school, different friends and different football teams. For my dad, it was probably, if we're honest, a big hit to his mental health. He moved from running a business to working as a labourer. For my mum, it meant having to move to Sydney to work. It had a tremendous impact on our family. We went from being a family that was watching my dad go off proudly to run his business, to suffering a huge hit. I certainly wasn't alone. During that time, there were thousands of families across Australia who suffered that. That's what insolvency means. Today we're in a GDP per capita recession. We've been in that situation for five quarters now, and, sadly, what we're seeing is, once again, a lot of kids learning what insolvency means.

Right across Australia and right across our economy, a record number of insolvencies are taking place, and it gives me no joy whatsoever to see Queensland leading that table. As we're talking on this topic, what we're talking about is another generation of young Australians looking at the impact it has on their families as these small family businesses go through these terrible times. There is no doubt that those small and medium businesses, those family run businesses, are looking around at the moment and asking themselves: 'Are we better off under Labor? Are we better off since Labor came to government?' Sadly, across the board, the answer is, 'No, we're not better off'.

I think about the IGA in Southtown in my electorate. They've experienced skyrocketing power bills. They've seen their bills go absolutely through the roof, to the point where John at Southtown is now paying twice what he was previously, despite having installed somewhere around $35,000 worth of energy-saving devices. We've got higher loan repayments as interest continues to push up and up. We've got increased staff costs, adding complexity around hiring. As they look ahead at the IR changes that are coming through as legislation, small businesses have absolutely no idea what they mean, because these are mum-and-dad operations that do not have a legal team who can sit there and trawl through 300 pages of legislation and understand what the impacts are going to be.

There are fewer apprentices and trainees coming through. Since Labor took office, Australia has 85,000 fewer apprentices and trainees—a loss of one in five. That's across the board, and, sadly, we have near-impossible insurance premiums. Insurance rates are going through the roof. So, when these small and medium businesses look out and ask that question, 'Are we better off under Labor?' the answer they're coming back with time and time again is no.

What's important to point out is that we are not here by accident. We are not in this situation by accident, but rather by the deliberate design of a series of legislation that Labor has brought about that has made things worse for small businesses in our country. I could point to the price caps in the gas industry, which have done what price caps have done since they were first reported in 300 AD, by the way: they lead to lower supply and higher prices. They do this every time. This happens across the board every time, and it's happening again in our sector. I could talk to the IR legislation that has been brought forward that will make things harder for small businesses. I could talk about the $315 billion of additional spending which is driving inflation. Then we turn to our Minister for Small Business, who has produced a grand total of one piece of legislation relevant to small business. We are here by design. We're in a worse place. This is where Labor has taken us, and this is why small businesses are very upset.

Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Small businesses represent opportunity for people to take control of their work lives, create jobs and provide for their families. For multicultural communities like mine, starting of small business is more than just a way to make a living. It is a pathway for new migrants to build generational wealth, to establish roots and contribute to the broader Australian economy. Our government is aware that small businesses are facing significant pressures at the moment. As the member for Holt, I'm regularly in contact with small-business owners across my electorate in suburbs such as Hampton Park, Narre Warren South, Lynbrook, Lyndhurst, Cranbourne, Clyde, Botanic Ridge, Pearcedale and Tooradin. Their stories are proof of resilience and a reminder of the challenges they face. The owners of Spin a Yarn, a cafe and a yarn store run by two mothers next to my office in Cranbourne West, have spoken honestly with me about the difficulties they are currently facing with escalating electricity costs and the reduction in sales as people struggle with the cost of living. Pressure like this has made many small-business owners consider selling. That's a heartbreaking prospect for any family that has poured their heart and soul into their livelihood.

It is for small businesses like Spin a Yarn that this year's budget includes more than $640 million dollars in practical and targeted support. This support includes measures such as a $325 energy bill rebate and the extension of the instant asset write-off. These initiative are designed to ease the burden on small businesses, helping them to stay afloat and continue contributing to our communities. Small-business owners are also set to benefit under Labor's stage 3 tax cuts. With the average small-business owner in Australia earning approximately $76,000 a year, they are set to save an extra $1,600 per year than they would have under the coalition. These are practical steps the Albanese Labor government is taking to support small businesses.

Let me address the claims made by the opposition. They've attempted to paint a picture of unprecedented business bankruptcies under this government, but this is simply misleading. What we are witnessing today with business bankruptcy is a delayed consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Government policies during the pandemic kept insolvency rates historically low, as businesses were shielded from the full effect of the economic downturn. The Reserve Bank governor, who the opposition is fond of quoting, recently stated, 'If you look at the trend of insolvencies over time, we are not even back to where we were trend-wise pre-pandemic.' Let's be clear: no business going under in this country is good. Every closure represents a family, a dream and a loss for our community.

However, the opposition's attempt to twist the facts for political gain is not only unhelpful; it is also disingenuous. They are more interested in scoring political points than in genuinely supporting small businesses. This is the same opposition that ignores expert advice when it suits them, whether it's the advice of Reserve Bank governor or scientists at the CSIRO or the security concerns raised by the Director-General of Security at ASIO. The Albanese Labor government remains committed to backing Australia's 2.5 million small businesses. We understand the challenges they face, and we will continue to provide the support they need to thrive in these difficult times.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of a motion by the member for Casey, which correctly points out that Australia's small business sector is at breaking point. They're at breaking point because of the economic incompetence of those opposite and because of their cost-of-living crisis. Small businesses are not immune to higher rents, higher energy bills, higher prices for goods and, of course, the dozen interest rate rises that have occurred under this government.

All of this cost-of-living pain has led to another record being set by the Albanese Labor government and, once again, it's not a record to be proud of. Data released by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission show the number of businesses that entered into insolvency last financial year was 11,049. That is the highest number ever recorded. By contrast, the number of insolvencies in 2020-21, when we were in government and we were combatting a once-in-a-century pandemic, was 4,235. In my home state of Western Australia, 733 businesses entered into insolvency last financial year. Not surprisingly, businesses linked to the construction sector accounted for the most insolvencies, which, of course, only exacerbates our housing crisis. This was followed by insolvencies in the accommodation and hospitality sectors.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this will be a record for long. Gayle Dickerson, who sits on the Turnaround Management Association board has said:

We're not at the peak yet. The consensus and my view is we've probably got another 12 months really kind of still ramping up before we hit the peak.

This is reinforced by results from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's WA business confidence survey, conducted earlier this year. That survey found that 18 per cent of businesses believed they were at risk of closing or were significantly scaling back their operations this year. Think of it: that's almost one in five businesses.

At a time when businesses are hurting more than ever before, you would think those opposite would do something in their power to put downward pressure on inflation and provide support to the sector. Unfortunately, they are not. In fact, under those opposite, as we know has been well reported, inflation is heading in the wrong direction, with Australia an outlier amongst advanced economies. Instead of providing support to businesses, Labor has chosen to make it harder by adding further costs, confusion and complexity to the industrial relations system.

I recently wrote to the small businesses across my Durack community about these reforms. I also sought their feedback on what issues they would like to see us address in this place. The top five issues raised with me were (1) cutting and simplifying red tape, (2) rising insurance premiums, which are a big deal in WA, particularly across the north, (3) lower, simpler and fairer taxes, (4) difficulty finding skilled staff and affording wages costs, and (5) ensuring affordable and reliable energy.

Let's consider whether Labor are addressing these concerns. In regard to red tape, the industrial relations reforms of those opposite have only made an already far-too-complex system even harder to navigate. One of the biggest issues for small business is that casual employment has been redefined. Before these changes, a casual employee was defined solely by reference to the terms of the employment contract. The new definition consist of 15 factors that consider the real substance, practical reality and true nature of the employment relationship. These changes would effectively stop casuals working regular patterns of work. We know this will disproportionally impact small businesses, as they employ 80 per cent of Australia's casual workforce.

What about taxes? The coalition has proposed extending the instant asset write-off to $30,000 and making this an ongoing for businesses. Labor voted against this proposal, leaving the scheme at $20,000 and due to expire. I also note when we were in government we reduced the small business tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent. This meant that the tax rate was at its lowest level in 50 years.

They are no good on red tape and no good on taxes. What about ensuring affordable and reliable energy? I don't think I really need to say much more about that. Labor, you need to do better.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Seriously, this is a cheap and lazy motion by the member for Casey. He casts around for an easy statistic, rips it out of context and then tries to blame something on the current government. We heard the member for Durack rip on just now about insurance premiums as though climate change hadn't had something to do with the fact that there has been an increased need for payouts. And affordable energy? Seriously, is a $600 billion debt to every single Australian somehow going to make any small business's energy bills cheaper? Cutting regulations? I don't think last week was the first time you heard about small businesses needing help with regulations, because the reality is that that has been an ongoing issue for every government, but it's something we're actually prepared to tackle.

Just as it isn't possible to create a good economic environment overnight, it isn't possible to create a bad one in a short time either. It takes years of neglect to create a really bad system. The member for Casey and the member for Durack can learn how to do that in their party room if they're around long enough. The coalition had a poor grants system, a poor robodebt system, a poor submarine procurement system and no system at all for working out what portfolios their Prime Minister had. They are the specialists at setting up a poor system and sitting back and watching it all fall completely to bits over time.

The member for Casey knows that the pandemic had a deleterious effect on many businesses and also that many were propped up during it. Unfortunately, $30 billion of our taxpayers' dollars went to businesses making a profit, because the coalition just could not care to set up a system to ensure the money went to those small businesses that needed it the most. We know that banks and other lenders also gave a lot of help to all sorts and sizes of businesses. Since the pandemic, we've had a supply crisis, a rise in energy costs and a rise in inflation. These conditions are worldwide and we are working to tackle them head-on.

The member for Casey will be aware of the comments on this matter by the Reserve Bank governor last Friday at the public hearing of the House Standing Committee on Economics, of which I am a member so I heard the comments firsthand. She outlined how, during the pandemic, there was a lot of government support for business and there were very low interest rates. At that time, the level of business insolvencies was at a historic low as a result. The number has gone up since. Governor Bullock was at pains to point out, however, that, given the increasing number of businesses, the figure was not at a historic high and indeed that the number of insolvencies was not yet back at the pre-pandemic trend levels. But that doesn't mean we don't care, because what the governor went on to say was that there was a bit missing from the debate about this and a little bit of understanding was needed. The member for Casey knows this. He knows he is cherrypicking statistics, and he is happy to cherrypick at the expense of small business.

This motion is on small business, so let's talk about a few of the great things that we have in fact done already in our two short years. The Minister for Small Business announced on 24 July more than $41 million to help more than 1,700 small businesses upgrade their facilities to take control of their energy bills and lower emissions through round 2 of the Energy Efficiency Grants for Small and Medium Enterprises. On 23 July we took action on the payment times for small business. Members opposite might have done that, but of course they didn't. The Payment Times Reporting Amendment Act passed last sitting. This legislation will ensure that big business is held accountable for poor payment practices. Better payment times reduce administration and financing costs. It's certainly the sort of thing that would actually help small businesses stay afloat and make ends meet each month. But it was clearly not enough for the Liberal and National parties to take action on.

We are encouraging small businesses to go green and save money at the same time. On 5 July the Minister for Small Business announced that farmers, freight companies and other small and medium businesses would be able to get cheaper finance for rooftop solar, batteries and more energy-efficient vehicles and equipment—a far cry from the $600 billion promise of nuclear energy that the Leader of the Opposition is promising instead.

There is more: energy bill relief of $325 to around one million small businesses; extending the $20,000 instant asset write-off, contrary to the member for Durack's misleading comments earlier; abolishing 457 nuisance tariffs to cut compliance costs and reduce red tape, contrary to the member for Durack's statements earlier; and a new, higher target to source 20 per cent of Commonwealth procurement below $1 billion, and 40 per cent of procurement below $20 million, from small and medium enterprises.

Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm happy to rise to speak to this motion by the member for Casey. For those listening at home, it in effect says that Australian small businesses are at breaking point and have been failed by this government. It points out that, in my state of New South Wales alone, 4,635 businesses have closed over the last 12 months, and that this government, the Labor-Green-teal government, is now the worst government on record for Australian businesses, having surpassed the 10,757 businesses collapsing under the government of 2011-12.

It gives me no joy to speak about this, having been in business myself for 16 years and knowing how tough business is. I remember going through the GFC in 2008 and 2009, paying my employees, paying rent which was nothing like rents these days, paying electricity bills which were nothing like electricity bills these days and going home and saying to my wife—and this is a true story—'We don't have any money this fortnight; this is really tough.' I look back on those days, and they are nothing like now.

Last Saturday I went into a local coffee shop, which people in the metropolitan areas would call a hole in the wall. It's got a fridge. It's got a coffee machine. It's got lights. I spoke to the owner. I said, 'How are things going?' and she said, 'My electricity bill went from $4,000 a quarter to $6,000 a quarter,' for a hole in the wall in Maxwell. She's got employees—and she's saying the same thing about the butcher around the corner. But I guess she's lucky. She's getting through and still coping because she has a very strong, established business.

There are other businesses out there, like Wicked Elf Beer in Port Macquarie, who'd been around for a decade. They closed their doors as a direct result of this government's rush to renewables and energy policy. After 10 years they shut the door because their electricity bill was higher than their rental bill. This was a brewery eight times—10 times—the size of this room, and they had to shut down. People lost their jobs.

When we come into this room and talk about what the government is doing, there's actually human emotion at stake. These people have families and children that go to schools in the local areas. Then the government implements industrial relations laws that allow union representatives to come into your workplace and tie you up in knots on a suspicion—not a reasonable suspicion, just a suspicion—that you might not be doing the right thing. Even through 12 years in the police, I had to have a reasonable suspicion to stop somebody or talk to somebody. They can walk in and tie business owners up in knots. Those people—those mums and dads or generational businesses—don't have the money for lawyers, so they have to spend hundreds of hours wasting time rather than getting on with business. There is no doubt that the reason we are seeing these statistics of closures in record numbers—you've seen in the construction industry alone a 111 per cent increase in the closure of construction companies—is a direct result of the poor policies of Labor, the Greens and the teals, who don't understand business.

The Treasurer himself—and I do not believe that he had the gall to say this—said he lasted six long, long months in private industry. What an insult to private industry and small business, who are the backbone of our economies, particularly in regional and rural areas. The Treasurer should hang his head in shame, and the government should hang their head in shame for what they've done to small business.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recognise that right now small businesses are under a lot of pressure, and I think that it's a challenging time that we're having within the Australian economy. I recognise that some of the top issues that small businesses are dealing with include skills shortages, cybersecurity, digital transformation, the regulatory environment and inflationary pressures. I'd say that each of these areas is an area the Albanese Labor government is working on.

I'm in touch with our community and I meet with small businesses regularly in my electorate. Recently I got to meet Simon from Stuart & Heaton Clothing. They started in Belmont, in the heart of Swan, and they provide a range of workwear to a range of industries, including firefighters and policemen. I think that it's great that they started in the heart of Swan and now they operate all across the nation. It's great to hear stories of innovation, hard work and resilience. It's also great to hear of workers being treated fairly and recognised for their hard work. In this particular organisation, one of the codes that they've signed up to is ethical clothing, and so they've got good standards for their procurement chain and making sure that workers are indeed being paid fairly, and what that means is that firefighters and police officers have confidence in the clothes that are being made right here in Australia. But, in saying that, I know it's not all roses, and I understand that the challenges of running a small business are real.

That's why the Albanese government is focused on providing practical support and long-term solutions to help small businesses thrive. Our policies are designed with one goal in mind: to strengthen the resilience of small businesses while offering targeted assistance to those encountering difficulties.

If I think about who the largest employer is across Australia, it is indeed small to medium businesses. So, in preparing for this debate tonight, I did some research about what has happened to small businesses in my electorate. What I found might surprise the member for Casey. According to .id, Australia's provider of demographic statistics to local government, there are 4,205 businesses in the town of Victoria Park, compared to 3,933 in 2021. That's an increase of 272 businesses in the town of Vic Park since we have been in power. In the City of Belmont in 2023, there were 4,529 businesses, compared to 4,225 in 2021. Again, to do the maths, that's an increase of 304 businesses in the City of Belmont since we came to power. In the City of Canning in 2023, there were 10,711 small businesses, compared to 9,995 in 2021. That's a substantial increase of 716 businesses in the City of Canning. So, in just those three local government areas in my electorate, that's a total of 1,292 new businesses. It's pretty impressive. To put it another way, there were 19,445 businesses in total in 2023, compared to 18,153 businesses in 2021. That's a seven per cent increase in the number of businesses since the Liberals were in power.

An increase in businesses means an increase in local jobs as well, and we have seen an increase in jobs in the south-west region, where my electorate sits, since the Liberals were in power. Recent labour force figures reveal an unemployment rate of 3.7 per cent in the region in May 2024, compared to 5.1 per cent in 2021.

Those figures are positive news to my thriving community. Of course, I acknowledge that we need to ensure that we provide an environment that supports businesses to prosper. This year, the budget allocated over $640 million in support specifically tailored to small businesses. Whether it's for navigating financial stress or accessing expert advice, there is advice. For businesses facing tough times, there's the Small Business Debt Helpline. It's free and government supported. We continue to employ different actions to help small businesses every day.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a great pleasure to rise to speak in support of my friend the member for Casey's motion, although it's no pleasure, obviously, to discuss what we're discussing, which is small business insolvency—and I wish that wasn't happening.

It's often been said that small business is the engine room of the economy. That's true. We could have a discussion about why that is. Why are small businesses the engine room of the economy? There are so many of them, of course. They're traditionally very high in productivity. This is due to several factors, including the fact that a small business is flexible and able to adapt to market change. Also—this is probably the key thing—the financial stakeholders of a small business are often the managers. They are often families. The level of personal risk that these small-business people put themselves under leads to extremely hard work, innovation and very high productivity. I have many small businesses in my electorate: farms, shops, small manufacturers and service businesses. A lot of them involve agriculture and food manufacturing.

The tragedy in Australia at the moment is that small business insolvencies are up, and that's not good for Australia. Let's have a think about why small-business insolvencies are up. I'm sure all of us are talking to our small-business communities. They are telling us that they're finding business very hard at the moment. We've got an inflationary environment, and that's making things tough. Input costs are up. One of the causes of this is government spending, and there's lower overall productivity in the economy. There's an expanded public sector taking key workers away from private enterprise. Input costs are up, especially energy. Gas and electricity are more expensive. Insurance is more expensive. In many cases, the infrastructure is not keeping up. The road network is not doing what it needs to do to make sure small business, particularly in my area, can get its produce to where it needs to go.

One of the things that is really frustrating the small businesses that I talk to is the industrial relations changes. The small businesses I talk to are really worried about the regulatory burden that this is going to put upon them. It's easier for a corporation to deal with that. They've got a huge HR department, and they can try and work through the morass of extra legislation that exists as a result of the new government. Put yourself in the shoes of a small business that's got to try and work through all of that. It's really hard. They can't afford to hire big costly HR departments, so they've often got to be up really late doing that themselves. Also, flexibility is reduced with these new IR laws, particularly in relation to casual employees. That really hurts small businesses, who need that flexibility.

The other thing small business tells me is that, increasingly, everyone seems to want to clip the ticket of what they do. For a hardworking small business—let's say they're an apple grower, a dairy farmer or a food manufacturer—dealing with the number of government bureaucracies that want to come in and add a cost to their business and have cost recovery just makes it harder and harder. These people feel that their work is not being respected. They feel, 'The government is just feeding off my hard work, my risk and my effort by sending a bunch of bureaucrats in there to make sure I'm compliant with this and that, and to make sure I've followed this regulation.' We're not going to get more small businesses by doing that. A fruit grower that I spoke to earlier today said to me, 'Sam, it seems like it's death by a thousand cuts.'

We're so risk averse, as a society, We're also worried about what the government's going to do to us, even if we make an innocent mistake. We spend so much on self-regulation now that it's tying us up in knots. It kills productivity. Productivity lifts profitability, and that lifts everyone's living standards. The policies we have seen from this government are not supporting that aim.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Small businesses are facing a lot of pressure right now. I know that from talking to the small businesses in my community. The Albanese Labor government is committed to helping small businesses build resilience in the long term and to providing practical support for small businesses that are experiencing challenges. This year's budget provides more than $640 million in practical, targeted support for small businesses. For small businesses that need assistance, there is a free, government-supported phone line, the Small Business Debt Helpline, with experienced small business financial counsellors who can provide advice to weather a difficult time. This helps to support the mental health of small business owners who face unique challenges, as their mental state is connected to the financial health of their businesses.

Other ways our government is supporting the financial health of small businesses is through the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program, which provides tailored, free and confidential mental health support to small business owners. Small businesses can also engage early with the Australian Taxation Office, which can provide support to people finding themselves in difficulty. Our government is also funding the expansion of the National Tax Clinic program, with an additional five clinics across the country providing small businesses and individuals with better tax advice and help. Small businesses can also access the Tax Concierge Service through the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. This ombudsman is funded to provide support where there may be disputes.

We are easing the pressure on small businesses by streamlining processes to minimise administrative burdens and to help them bounce back from challenges. In particular, eligible small businesses will receive the $325 energy bill relief payment under our most recent budget. Our government also provided $1.8 million to progress regulatory reforms to retail energy markets that will ensure small businesses are on electricity contracts that work better for them. I was really pleased to visit a small business in my electorate, the Scott Leggo Gallery, with the Minister for Small Business to talk about those announcements from our budget and hear how it would benefit them.

We are levelling the playing field for small businesses by enabling healthy competition and ensuring small businesses get a fair go. We are supporting small businesses to grow by removing barriers to entry and we're encouraging growth in the small business sector by reviewing and reforming Australia's competition policy settings to increase productivity, reduce the cost of living and boost wages. Australian small businesses are obviously vital to the country's prosperity. We are doing everything we can to ensure that small businesses continue to play their critical role in making Australia's economy stronger.

The member for Casey's assertions that we are failing small businesses are utterly false. We are doing more than ever to support small businesses and ensure that they continue to thrive in the future. We know that, with the unwinding of COVID-era relief, the number of corporate insolvencies is slightly exceeding previous peaks. However, the level of corporate insolvencies as a proportion of all companies is lower than the long-term historical average. Companies entering external administration are also increasingly using the small business restructuring process to successfully restructure their debt and remain in business. This is something I've heard a lot about from people in my electorate. The government will continue to monitor developments in this space.

We know small businesses are the engine room of our nation's economy. They collectively employ more than five million Australians and contribute more than $500 billion to our nation's economy every year. We are continuing to back Australia's 2.5 million small businesses to ensure that they have confidence and certainty going forward. We are lucky that, in the member for Franklin, we have a minister for small business who is passionate about and committed to helping small businesses thrive.

By backing Australian small business, we are backing Australia's future economic growth. We are supporting local communities to whom small businesses provide jobs, revenue and services, strengthening these communities. By building small business resilience we build the resilience of the nation.

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this 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.