Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the importance of small business in regional and rural Australia. Small businesses and independent contractors are the backbone of a number of our rural communities and regional centres, including my own region of Corangamite. Small businesses are today the powerhouse of our region, with Corangamite now having more small businesses than the neighbouring seat of Corio, which takes in the vast bulk of the City of Geelong. It is no coincidence that small business has grown in our region and the strength of our economy has grown with their dominance. Today, we have one of the best performing regions in Australia.

Even in normal economic conditions, small business enterprises need to work very hard to achieve commercial success. Each small business takes a risk in going out on their own—especially those who are self-employed take that risk. In the current economic climate, the difficulty in maintaining a small business has been dramatically exacerbated. This government’s sound economic management has Australia leading the world out of the global financial crisis—and that has been a great outcome for small business.

With the Rudd government’s decisive economic policies, the Australian economy is now the envy of the world. We are the first developed economy to emerge from the global financial crisis. Much of this resilience in the Australian economy has been because of the strength of the small business sector. However, we as a government are not going to rest on our laurels. We still have a long way to go. The rest of the world is still caught in the worst economic depression since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Nearly every major world economy is still in recession.

The Rudd government took decisive and early action to protect the economy for small businesses and independent contractors. The government’s economic stimulus packages were designed to assist small business; they were squarely in our mind. Local small business, especially retailers, have benefited from the cash stimulus payments to families, the stimulus spending on materials for school building projects and the other public infrastructure projects. Tradespeople, independent contractors and other small business people are the beneficiaries of 70 per cent of the stimulus package that was spent on infrastructure, including the biggest school modernisation program in the nation’s history.

Local economies have also benefited from the housing grants, bringing new home buyers to our regions. The government understands that cash flow is clearly very important for small business. We are assisting in that regard with pay-as-you-go instalments for small business through 2009-10. To support small businesses this summer, the Rudd government is also providing $100 million in the form of the Apprentice Kickstart program. The Apprentice Kickstart program is a part of the government’s economic stimulus package and is designed to support up to 21,000 young Australians entering traditional trades. Between 1 December 2009 and 28 February 2010, the Australian government will provide a $3,350 Apprentice Kickstart Bonus to employers, small businesses, who take on young persons aged 19 years and under into a traditional trade—(Time expired)

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