Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I did actually. I held the barb wire whilst he was straining it. He was grateful for that, but he was even more grateful, member for Melbourne Ports, for the fact that, under the budget announced by Joe Hockey, he would be able to replace that full fence for his cattle farm with a new fence and there would be an instant asset write-off for that. That is great. Of course, companies are going to be able to do it for $20,000 worth of equipment. That has really gone down well.

I have to say that after the 2014 budget it was tough work going out into the supermarkets and going out to sporting events and community events which I attend all the time because people said, 'Gee, the budget's tough.' It was necessarily tough, but this year's budget does provide hope for business. We know that small business is the engine room of the economy. We know that we are going to get a jobs boost and an economic boost from those small businesses which are the lifeblood of particularly regional Australia but, indeed, the whole nation. We know that Labor failed. We know that because we see it on so many fronts. We are getting on with the job of fixing up the mess that we inherited. The member for Melbourne Ports knows that there was a problem when we took over government. We will get on with the job of fixing it because that is what good, responsible, measured and fair Liberal-National governments always do.

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