Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Longman for the question. He, like I, appreciates the importance of the tourism sector to his electorate, especially the fabulous tourism opportunity at Bribie Island. He, like I, was amazed to hear the Leader of the Opposition this morning talking about tax reform. Yet again, the Leader of the Opposition has shown how out of touch he is with the Australian community when he said on radio: ‘Any fair-minded analysis would suggest that mining companies were paying more than their fair share of tax.’

This is not just about taxation reform to the resources sector in Australia; this is also about a fair return to the whole Australian community. This is about supporting households and businesses and, very importantly, it is also about supporting small and medium sized businesses in Australia, which are so vital to the tourism sector. I was therefore astounded to hear the comments of Senator Barnaby Joyce on Lateline last night. I remind members that he is not just a Queensland senator; he is also the shadow minister for regional development and infrastructure. This is what he said about the importance of the tourism sector in Australia, of which the restaurant sector is a vital component: ‘The mining sector is slightly more important to us than the restaurant sector.’ As the Minister for Resources and Energy and the Minister for Tourism, I simply say that they are all important sections of the Australian community. Perhaps the member for Moncrieff ought to give his close mate, Senator Barnaby Joyce, a lecture on the importance of the tourism sector to the Australian community, especially the importance of the small business sector to that industry. For example, the tourism sector is worth $41 billion per year. It accounts for 3.6 per cent of Australia’s GDP. It employs half a million Australians directly and just under a million Australians indirectly. From an export point of view, it accounts for just over 10 per cent of Australia’s exports—our largest services export sector.

In terms of the restaurant and catering sector, I remind the House that it was the opposition who last year sought to deny giving them assistance in the middle of the global financial crisis. I also bring to the attention of the House what the Restaurant and Catering Australia has said on a number of occasions. It credits the government’s decisive action with injecting at least $80 million into restaurant and catering businesses during the global financial crisis and with assisting them in getting through that very difficult challenge. But, yet again, we find the opposition dismissing the importance of the small and medium sized business sector of the Australian community. Having sought to deny them assistance during the global financial crisis, they are again seeking to deny them assistance out of a broader tax reform package. By way of example, the opposition is seeking to deny the 93 per cent of tourism businesses that are small to medium sized businesses the cash flow benefits of an instant write-off of assets worth up to $5,000. For tourism businesses that is important. It represents the potential immediate write-off of such assets as IT equipment, refrigerators, beds and other items of furniture that are very necessary for the purposes of refurbishing their businesses in a very tough competitive world.

The opposition is also seeking to deny an annual saving of $94 million to the accommodation and food services sector from the potential reduction in the company tax rate from 30 to 28 per cent. The opposition is therefore effectively seeking to deny one or both of those benefits to 93 per cent of tourism businesses throughout the length and breadth of Australia. Many of them are in regional Australia. You would think that the shadow minister for regional development would have a better understanding of the importance of tourism, a better understanding of the importance of the restaurant industry and a better understanding of the importance of the small business sector to the Australian community. But, then again, I should not be amazed because I think he, like the Leader of the Opposition, has decided that this is not about tax reform in Australia. He has assessed that, from their point of view, there are bigger donations to come from the mining sector than from the small and medium sized business sector of the Australian community.

The government will push on with this debate. Yes, there is a bit of rough and tumble but we are committed to winning through because this is about broad tax reform. This is not only about a fair return to the Australian community for the development of its resources; it is also about a helping hand, and appropriately so, to small business operators—and many of them are in the tourism sector that was so dismally dismissed by the shadow minister for regional development last night.

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