Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I think I made clear in the last answer that in our budgets we have been looking at what we can do to support small business, including by providing energy bill rebates—something that small businesses have argued for. There are our investments in cyber wardens programs, which, again, is an area small businesses have argued for. We've got the $20,000 instant asset write-off. I draw attention to the fact that we had 2.6 million small businesses in the June quarter—which is up on the number of small businesses from when we came to government, which was 2.44 million.

I'm not disputing some businesses are finding it tough right now, which is why the government and the minister, Minister Collins, have been so focused on responding to those areas of need. I would say the worst thing for small business would be a $315 billion cut to the federal budget, which would force them into even more difficult times. (Time expired)