Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gilmore for her question. I was pleased to be in her electorate during the course of last week, where I found out that, for public schools in Nowra, their funding is going up 60 per cent over the next 10 years. The other key feedback I got when I was in Nowra was from small businesses. This government has already cut tax for small businesses. More than half of Australia's workforce will now be covered by a lower rate of tax because of the cuts to taxation for small- and medium-size businesses that have already been legislated through this parliament.

I had the opportunity when I was in Nowra with the member for Gilmore to visit Nowra Flooring Xtra, where Aaron and Val Baker run a small business. They have a turnover of around $3 million. The Leader of the Opposition thinks a business with a turnover of $3 million is a big business—he thinks it is Google, Facebook or Microsoft—and he does not think that they should be getting the tax cut that they are now getting and that they should not be getting the extension of the instant asset write-off, which we announced in the budget. He also does not think that Aaron and Val Baker, down there in the electorate of Gilmore, should be able to do their GST on a cash basis. He does not understand that, for a small business with a $3 million turnover, being able to do your GST on a cash basis to better manage your cash flow is a massive opportunity for them. But that is what we have done. We have cut taxes for small business. We also had the opportunity to visit Gleeson Transport, a trucking company. They are getting a tax cut from this government so that they can better support their growth as a company and employ more Australians in the Shoalhaven, which is very, very important.

Those opposite, the Labor Party, are planning to put their hand in the till of every single company in this country, and they are going to start with small business. If those opposite are elected, they are going to reverse the tax cuts for small business. That means that, whether you are Aaron and Val Baker in the Shoalhaven or you are Bowmaker Realty in the electorate of Petrie, or wherever you happen to be, those opposite, the Labor Party, want to increase taxes on your small business. They want to take the threshold for small business from $10 million down to $2 million, because they know that, if they do not fulfil that pledge to put the taxes back up, they will have a $25 billion black hole—another black hole—and they cannot even get close to funding the promises that they bring in and out of this place.

We on this side of the House are cutting taxes for small business. We are investing in ensuring that small businesses can grow. We are looking to cut their red tape. Those opposite just want to put up their taxes and tie them up in red tape.

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