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

I thank Senator Smith for his question. When we, the Morrison government, say we back small and family business, we put in place the policies that show exactly that. There is a well-known saying: cashflow is king. Well, cashflow is well and truly king for small and family businesses. In fact, it is crucial to their ongoing prosperity and growth. As I travel around Australia, so many small and family businesses say to me that, when they do not get paid or their payments get delayed, it affects their viability to operate.

We believe that small and family businesses are the backbone of our economy. We also believe that they should not have to wait months and months to get paid for work that they have already completed. The millions and millions of small and family businesses around Australia deserve to know that the businesses they engage with are paying them on time so that they can have the cashflow they need to get on with business. Disappointingly, a number of large companies in Australia take advantage of small businesses and subject them to unreasonable and unfair payment times. We say enough is enough. No big business in Australia should be allowed to use small and family businesses as a bank. We as a government have taken some action. We are, of course, leading by example: the government has committed to paying all contracts up to $1 million within 20 days commencing on 1 July 2019. We're also now going to require large businesses with a turnover in excess of $100 million and government agencies—you need to lead by example—to publish payment information on how they engage with small business. Cashflow is king, and small and family businesses deserve to have that. (Time expired)