Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was very keen to participate in the debate today because I was hoping that it might actually shed some light on this much-announced policy of the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. The reason I hoped to be enlightened was that, looking into this matter and reading up on it as I have done, it looked very suspiciously like the Australian Small Business Commissioner with a new name. I am somewhat disappointed to find through the debate today that there is actually not much more to it than that. There is some minor broadening of responsibilities beyond what the commissioner had. These will be positive moves, I have no doubt about that, but it is not exactly the coalition setting the world on fire. Fundamentally, what we are doing today is spending an hour of the House's time commending the coalition on changing the name from commissioner to ombudsman. If there is any symbol of the approach the coalition takes to small business, it is the idea of slogans without much substance. It is all talk and no real action.

The debate today does give me some opportunity to talk about an alternative approach, and that is the one that Labor took while we were in government. I think it is fair to say that when we talk about slogans or substance we fall very much on the side of substance and are not so concerned with all the rhetoric in the debate from the other side of the House. We are concerned about making real changes that will really impact on people who run small businesses in Australia.

I note at this point that we have had on all sides effusive statements of how important small businesses are to Australia, and there is no way that we can really overstate that. There are two million small businesses around the country. More than five million Australians are employed in these organisations. When we look at how much our economy has changed in the last generation or so in Australia, this enormous growth in the number of small businesses is such a good example It is one of the pillars of the changed economy. I say that because, when we look at two million small businesses in Australia, what I see is evidence of inventiveness, of creativity, of ordinary Australians who have a great idea and say, 'We're going to take a risk on this.' That is exactly what we want the economy in Australia to look like. That is exactly what will take us forward into this next century.

An honourable member: Hear, Hear!

I am getting endorsements from the other side of the House and I am pleased about that, but I have to say that, so often, when the government talks about business what they are really talking about are the oligopolies that dominate so much of big business in Australia. It is actually Labor people who genuinely stand beside these ordinary working people who are taking capital into their ownership, having a great idea, banking on themselves, and going out there and starting small businesses. As evidence of this, you need look no further than the series of really significant reforms that was undertaken by the previous government.

Labor in government were able to give real priority to small business. We know that, for the first time since 2001, the small business minister was a cabinet minister. When we talked to people who work in small businesses, especially those peak bodies that are really close to the operations of government, we could see how much difference that made—having a small business minister at the table, helping to make decisions. We created the position of Small Business Commissioner, the name change of which takes up the attention of the House today. We included the council of Australian businesses in COAG discussions. We appointed a deputy chair to the ACCC who has significant and extensive experience in small business. Those things were about giving small business a seat at the table and a voice in the central discussions of government.

There were also critical changes to the tax system which were such an important boost to small business, especially during the period of the global financial crisis. I think the member for Chifley talked about $3 billion in assistance that instant asset write-offs gave to small businesses, just by allowing businesses to write off assets that were worth up to $6½ thousand. We introduced a loss carry-back so that, if in one year a small business made a loss, they were able to counter that with a profit from the year before and get a tax refund from that. These were really significant financial reforms.

The third thing were the practical measures introduced under Labor. For the first time, all government agencies were required to settle bills with small businesses within 90 days—a practical thing that only people who have that experience and that sort of commitment to small business would think of.

Small businesses in Australia are and incredibly important part of our economy, but reform must be real and it must be genuine. I commend the previous government for the work that it did, and we will continue to fight for small businesses around the country.

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