Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bushby for the question. There is only one fact that the Australian people need to worry about and that is that this side of the chamber, the Liberal-National government, is the only side that will ever deliver for small and family business in Australia. Why? Because so many of us from the Liberal-National side of politics come from small business. We understand exactly what it takes to give up so much, earn your money, employ Australians and run your own business. We, the Liberal-National government, will always respect small and family business in Australia and we will continue to put in place policies to ensure that our small and family businesses are able to prosper and grow.

Small and family businesses are the engine room of the Australian economy. They provide millions of Australians with jobs and, in providing millions of Australians with jobs, those Australians are able to provide for their families. Our 3.3 million small businesses contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to our national economy. These small businesses employ in excess of five million people, or around half of the private sector workforce, and, on this side of the chamber, we are very, very proud, aren't we, colleagues, to support tax cuts for small and family businesses. We are proud to have legislated tax cuts for small and family businesses. We have legislated those tax cuts down to 27½ per cent—the lowest level in 50 years. And guess what? Our plan is to lower it even further. We will reduce it down to 25 per cent. Why? Because we are going to back small and family business in Australia every step of the way.