Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is an absolute delight to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2015-2016. The 2015-16 budget is good for Brisbane, it is good for women, it is good for families, it is good for the environment and it is good for the country. I congratulate the Treasurer on a budget that has delivered new hope and confidence to small businesses and families. But I do not envy him his job, which has to rate as one of the most difficult in the country. Having to deal with inheriting a set of books drowning in debt after six years of Labor being in office, with gross debt projected to rise at the time to $667 billion and with $123 billion in cumulative deficits does not sound like my ideal job description. But that is the mess, the Labor mess, that the Treasurer was asked to fix, and that is exactly what he is doing—and we are on our way to a surplus.

But who better to take on this important job than someone who grew up in a small business family? That is very much something that the Treasurer and I have in common. The Treasurer started working in his family's small business, sweeping floors. My parents promoted me straight to customer service as an eight-year-old, spruiking the price specials on the size 9 frozen chickens. Growing up in a small family business taught me the value of hard work. It also taught me that real initiative and the real wealth generation in this country come from the men and women who run small businesses, who are prepared every single day of the week to have a go. That is why the government's 2015 budget is historic, it is unprecedented and it is a game changer, with our Growing Jobs and Small Business package, the biggest economic recognition of the sector in Australia's history.

The new $5.5 million Growing Jobs and Small Business package will help small businesses in Brisbane invest more, grow more and employ more people. It will help employers in Brisbane create jobs and assist Australia's unemployed, particularly unemployed youth, to build on those skills to get into work. Ninety-six per cent of Australian businesses are small businesses. They employ 4.5 million people and they produce over $330 billion of our nation's total economic output.

At the heart of the Growing Jobs and Small Business package are tax cuts for more than two million Australian small businesses that will help drive much-needed investment and employment across our economy. The $20,000 asset write-off is a fantastic initiative. That is why 30,000 small businesses in my electorate of Brisbane applaud this budget—businesses like Dolci Sapori, whose owner Aladino Pozzobon will now be able to refrigerate his van. He already has another van but he has one that is not refrigerated. He will be able to expand and deliver more of his beautiful Italian sweets to all of the coffee shops and restaurants that he supplies. He is very excited about taking his business to that next level.

As a result of this package, almost overnight business and consumer confidence has been transformed. This is the message that I am getting everywhere I travel. When I talk to my constituents, whether they have a little coffee shop on the corner, a deli, manufacturing business, IT business, health business or restaurant, they are all terribly excited by this small business package. To this point, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland, which is based in my electorate, was absolutely delighted with the budget. It was delighted that the budget recognised that small business is the backbone of the economy. CCIQ Director of Advocacy, Nick Behrens, said the budget had firmly placed responsibility for job creation at the feet of small business through the $5.5 billion Growing Jobs and Small Business package. More specifically, Mr Behrens said that this federal budget will materially benefit many people—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Federation Chamber adjourned at 20 : 41

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