Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting the amendment moved by Senator Patrick. I also have very high regard for Senator Patrick and the way he engages with the government, but let me say that, if he were sincere in his wish to ask questions about the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill 2017, we could have spent the last 20 minutes dealing with that particular bill. In relation to those two pieces of legislation, one is, as Senator Patrick said, an enabling piece of legislation giving effect to the trans-Pacific partnership agreement. That is a debate that has been going on for some time. Indeed, the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill 2017 also strengthens the opportunity for small business to appeal against bad decisions of government departments in the context of procurement.

In relation to the small- and medium-sized business tax cuts legislation in particular, this is a debate that has been going on for more than two years. All we're doing with this bill is bringing forward tax cuts that have previously been legislated by this parliament, including having passed through this Senate. You might recall, we had a very, very, very lengthy debate in March 2017 when the Senate ultimately voted to reduce to 25 per cent the corporate tax rate for businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million. The decision of the time was to do that over a time period to 2026-27. Subsequently, of course, the government sought to pass legislation to implement business tax cuts down to 25 per cent over the same period for all businesses across Australia. That was unsuccessful, and everybody here in the Senate remembers the circumstances of that. That was also a pretty lengthy debate which went over months.

The government has accepted the verdict of the Senate. The government has announced very clearly that all we're trying to do here is bring forward what has already been legislated. We think it's important to provide that certainty to small- and medium-sized businesses as soon as possible so that we can have the beneficial effect of increased investment, stronger growth, more jobs and higher wages as soon as possible, because by giving that certainty to small- and medium-sized businesses at the earliest opportunity, we of course help them make investment decisions today about their future growth opportunities. I don't think it's fair to say that there hasn't been ample opportunity for debate in relation to the government's proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate for small- and medium-sized businesses with a turnover of up to $50 million in the Senate over the last two years or so. This is not the time to make a decision. I believe that there is consensus in the chamber for this to happen.

The government is very grateful that in relation to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill 2017 the Labor Party has backed in the national interest. We understand that that it's been a difficult debate and that some of the issues that Senator Patrick raises are issues that the Labor Party also had to work their way through. We are very grateful that ultimately the Labor Party's judgement is to back this legislation in because it's going to be good for Australia.

We're obviously not sitting next week—it's Senate estimates next week—and I think it's important for us as the Senate to deal with those two important pieces of legislation before we leave. I'm not going to hold the Senate up any longer because I want us to get to the debate as fast as we can so that Senator Patrick and others can ask questions about the Government Procurement (Judicial Review) Bill and the legislation to implement tax cuts for small- and medium-sized businesses faster. I think it's important that we get on with it.