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

I thank Senator Duniam for the question. Led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the Liberal-National government continues to put in place policies that will ensure that the small businesses of Australia can continue to prosper and grow, because, as we know, when small businesses in Australia prosper and grow, they create more jobs for Australians and the entire nation benefits. As a government, we have continually put in place policies that will back small and family businesses. Why? Because they are the backbone of the Australian economy. Whether it's lowering their taxes to 25 per cent five years earlier than planned, whether it's extending the instant asset write-off or whether it is cutting red tape now to the tune of $6 billion, we will continue to deliver.

Today, colleagues, we have put in place yet another policy that will benefit the small and medium businesses of Australia. The Treasurer and I announced an important initiative to further help small businesses, in particular those in start-ups and in the early stages of growth, to attract new employees. We're doing this by simplifying the regulatory framework relating to employee share schemes. What this will do is allow employees to invest in the business that is actually employing them. Specifically, we are increasing the value limit of eligible financial products that can be offered in a 12-month period. We're going to double that, from $5,000 to $10,000, to make it more appealing for employees. We're also going to expand employee share schemes to include contribution plans, and we're going to allow small businesses to offer employee share schemes without publicly disclosing commercially sensitive information.

We have continued to listen to small business. We have listened to the feedback from them—in particular, those from the start-up sector. Today the Treasurer and I have announced yet another policy that will see them prosper and create more jobs. (Time expired)