Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Casey for his question. I suppose one of the most successful business programs over a long period of time has been the Export Market Development Grants Scheme. Yet we saw in a desperate bid to prop up or establish that proxy surplus—that dud surplus that they spent years trying to present, but only to the effect of introducing the four biggest budget deficits in our history—one of the many, many programs that the previous government attacked was this most effective Export Market Development Grants Scheme. No wonder 512,000 people in the small business sector lost their jobs during the term of the previous administration. They have no sense of the innovative capacity or the job creation role of the small business sector. As a consequence, they even cut $25 million from this very important program.

The government now has sought to turn around the prospects of the small business sector, and in regard to the export market development grants we have added an additional $50 million over four years to enable our small and medium sized business sectors to identify and gain from a lot of the important opportunities that are starting to emerge in the region around us. Not only have we increased the amount of money; we have increased the maximum number of EMDGs from seven to eight. This will, in many ways, provide significant benefits. We have reduced the eligible expenditure threshold from $20,000 to $15,000 and we have reduced the current $5,000 deduction from the applicant's provisional grant to $2,500. All of this will enable the payment of grants in years of low scheme demand, or where additional funding is provided.

This is a comprehensive program at a time when we are desperately looking to have the government live within its means. There are two ways of doing that: you cut spending that is excessive, but you also grow the economy at the same time. A big part of growing the economy is breathing life back into our small business sector. This is one of the programs that gives confidence and opportunity to the small business sector to contribute in the way in which they can and they should and they must. I am very pleased to announce and support this government's initiative.

Could I just touch on the scare campaign that we heard from the other side of the table, the absolute scare campaign about the tourism budget. I do not accept any of the assertions. The shadow minister opposite went through a whole series of falsehoods. The tourism sector has overwhelmingly accepted this. We are as a government backing our strengths by putting tourism—

Mr Albanese interjecting—

Do we need to be interrupted in the way in which we are, Madam Deputy Speaker? Do we need it?

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