Emma Husar (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to respond to the motion put forward by the member for Boothby. This motion very accurately spells out the significance of small business in Australia. It is a shame that the member's speech did not reflect that accuracy. It reflects the importance of shopping locally and supporting local small business owners, and, in turn, their employees. In my electorate of Lindsay in Western Sydney, we are home to a large number of small businesses. Our community is characterised by hard work and determination, and our small business owners are a shining example of these qualities. We have brilliant cafes in our town centres that would rival even the most hipster cafes of Newtown, like Simon's cafe Screaming Beans on High Street, my smashed avo and feta destination of choice. We have tradies who get up each morning to build and repair our rapidly growing region, like Luke from Leonay Plumbing and Paul from PCB Services. We have high-quality local services that keep professional people in our region, like the newly opened One Point Health facility. This keeps local dollars in our region too. And we have hugely successful home businesses like Savvy Cakes and Bordeaux Candles that ultimately allow parents to spend more time with their families, and help working people with their work/life balance.

Now, we know that this is not exclusive to Lindsay, but it is replicated throughout Australia. As the motion rightly points out, there are 2.1 million small businesses across our country, and a large proportion of these small businesses are crucial to our economy and employment locally. I say a large proportion because 62.3 per cent of all small businesses are non-employing businesses, but the remaining 771,000 businesses employ around five million Australians, so it is crucial that we support small business as much as we can.

Of course, what we should not be doing—and Labor have made this clear all along—is dress up government subsidies for big business as some sort of hand up for small business. You do not help small business owners and employees by misappropriating billions of dollars of hard-earned taxpayer money by giving it straight to the big four banks—and that is all we have heard from Liberals in this place and all around the country. Their business tax plan is woefully targeted, and the people of Australia know exactly what it is: a tax cut for this government's big business mates and donors at the expense of small business owners and those struggling to get by. It will add, for those obsessed by the debt and deficit, $4 billion in extra interest to our country's bottom line.

Last year Labor took an incredible package of small business policies to the election. These were sensible and practical measures to assist small business owners achieve justice in the marketplace and reduce unnecessary impediments to their ongoing success. We supported a small business tax cut which would have applied to 83 per cent of Australian companies—those that have an annual turnover of up to $2 million, which is rightly reflective of an actual small business. This measure would greatly assist small businesses in my community. In fact, it is a policy I have spoken to many business owners about, and it is well supported.

Another element to local small business success is, as the motion correctly points out, a shop local mentality that supports local business owners and their employees. In my electorate, we are well serviced by the Penrith Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Penrith Business Alliance and the Nepean Business Network, all of whom build on the skills of our local business owners and promote local enterprise within our community. I have seen it observed on a small business shopfront that 'when you buy from small business, you're not helping a CEO buy a third holiday home. You're helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey, and helping parents put food on the table and pay a mortgage.'

I will always encourage local families to shop locally and support small business because I know how hardworking and dedicated small business owners. I also know how integral and connected each of them are within our community, with many of these giving back generously to local charity.

It is interesting to note that the member for Boothby has mentioned and praised the government's instant asset write-off in her motion. What she has neglected to mention is that it was the previous Labor government that first introduced this policy, and—hardly any surprises here—you guys, the Liberals, opposed and trash-talked its introduction. In fact, the former member for Dunkley, Bruce Billson, who was the shadow minister for small business before the 2013 election, and then the Minister for Small Business following that election, had completely contradictory things to say about this important policy before and after that time. Before the election, he said the policy was rubbish and proceeded to abolish it after coming to government. Of course, in what can only be described as a blinding reversal of ignorance and political opportunism, the policy was re-established and is now heralded as a success by those opposite, because they are obviously not clever enough to come up with their own policies. That can only be seen as an endorsement of Labor's sensible policies to assist small business. Their actions on this matter can only be seen as a reflection of their priorities: when it comes to small business, they would much rather play politics and rubbish Labor instead of getting on with the job and supporting small business owners.

One other thing that would greatly assist small business owners in my electorate is to ensure that working people in our area have enough money to shop there. Cutting $77 a week from the take-home pays of 700,000 Australians will do nothing for them. (Time expired)

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