Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Regional Services) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Duniam, for the question. Australia is a small business nation and our economy is strong, with growth rates that the OECD nations are jealous of, thanks to the hardworking small and family businesses right across our country. The Liberal-National government has a strong track record of backing small businesses, increasing jobs and building stronger regional economies.

It's not just our fishers, our foresters and our farmers operating small and family businesses out in regional Australia; regional tourism is making a significant contribution to the economy, in excess of $51 billion—and it is booming in your home state of Tasmania, Senator. In fact, Robert Knight, who runs the Bruny Island Long Weekend, has been expanding and developing his business and ensuring that he in turn supports other local businesses by procuring some fresh local Tassie produce. We're backing small businesses like the Bruny Island Long Weekend all the way by cutting the small business tax rate, changing competition law to level the playing field, extending the instant asset write-off, simplifying the BAS and cutting payment times.

We know that cashflow is key to small business and crucial to the day-to-day operations. Small businesses shouldn't be used as a bank by government or indeed by big business. That's why we've taken action to reduce those payment times, and now we're asking for big business to follow our lead. We are working with 3,000 of Australia's largest businesses with over $100 million turnover to develop a reporting framework to make sure that, when they buy from a small business, they pay in a timely manner. We've also created the $2 billion Australian Business Securitisation Fund, to enable greater access to finance for small family businesses on competitive terms when they need it. Small-business owners shouldn't have to put the family home on the line in order to gain access to finance. More than three million small businesses, including our agriculture, fishing, forestry and regional tour operators, are critical for a stronger economy.