Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bill 2015 and the related bill are yet another fine example of the coalition government's steadfast commitment to small businesses across Australia. It is fitting that in this week, the week in which the government's historic small business tax relief package passed the other chamber, that we are here once again talking about common sense legislation that will make a real and significant difference to the small business sector in this country.

The coalition understands that small business owners face particular challenges in growing their businesses, employing more staff and remaining profitable. As a former business owner myself, I have spoken before in this place about the daily challenges faced by small business owners. Margins can be tight, markets can be crowded and competitive—and larger players do not always play fair. Building a business can take time away from time spent with family and friends. Cash flows and credit lines are a constant source of concern.

In such a challenging environment friends are important, and by now it should be abundantly clear that the coalition is the true friend of small business. Those opposite make shallow attempts to talk themselves up as pro small business. Labor talks a good game, as always, but let us take a look at the facts.

It is the coalition government that has delivered the lowest corporate taxes for small business in almost 50 years. It is the coalition government that has delivered the policy of instant 100 per cent depreciation on each and every small business capital purchase up to $20,000 in value. And it is the coalition government that has announced reforms to generate the more than $2.45 billion in annual red tape compliance cost savings. And now, again, it is a coalition government that, with this bill, will fulfil an election commitment to establish an Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman to provide adequate advocacy and assistance to the small business sector.

The contrast with Labor's record could not be clearer. Labor's small business policy is shambolic. Labor did nothing about reducing corporate tax for six years, while burdening Australians with 21,000 additional regulations. Despite their poor record in government, a week before the 2015 budget the member for Oxley, as Labor's shadow business spokesman, had the hypocrisy to criticise the government's plans to cut tax for small business and to create a tiered corporate tax system. Then, in his budget reply, the Leader of the Opposition ignored his spokesman and offered up some vague motherhood statements about small business-specific tax cuts. The problem is that they are completely unfunded, and the small business sector can have little confidence that Labor has the means, or indeed the intention, of ever delivering.

Let us look at Labor's position on the instant 100 per cent depreciation write-offs up to $20,000. Labor has attempted to pretend that this was in fact their idea. Indeed, it is the case that under Labor there was a less-generous instant asset write-off of up to $6,500. But what Labor is keen for everyone to forget is that the reason that write-off existed was to compensate small businesses for the effect of Labor's business-destroying carbon tax and mining tax.

Of course, the unedifying farce that is Labor's policy on small business has continued in parliament. Having just last month opposed tiered small business tax cuts, the opposition then thought these measures were so important that they had to pass this House immediately—without debate. They did not even want the members of this House to have the opportunity to speak in this place about the many small business owners in their electorates who will benefit from these changes. When it comes to small business, Labor just does not want to hear the good news.

But the good news just keeps on coming with a coalition government. As I said earlier, this bill establishes an Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. Small business owners know they have friends in the coalition government; this bill will ensure that they have a friend in the bureaucracy as well. The ombudsman will have two main functions: an advocacy function and an assistance function.

In terms of advocacy, the ombudsman will continue the work of the Australian Small Business Commissioner. That position was created but never properly legislated by the former government, and the work begun by Mr Mark Brennan in the role will continue under the new ombudsman. The assistance function will establish an alternative dispute resolution mechanism that will provide improved access to justice for small businesses at the Commonwealth level.

I say 'Commonwealth level' quite deliberately, because the intention here is not to duplicate the resources of other officials at a state level. Small business is generally well served by a range of state and territory small business commissioners and other officials. The ombudsman will merely play a complementary role, working with existing state and Commonwealth agencies to fill the gaps in the system and, where possible, referring people to existing resources so as to avoid the 'forum shopping' of grievances. The ombudsman will provide an outsourced alternative dispute resolution service that will incentivize parties to participate genuinely in the process. It is hoped that this service will help improve business productivity, preserve business relationships and avoid litigation.

The Minister for Small Business is to be commended for introducing this bill and the other small business-friendly bills associated with the 2015 budget. At last, after the procession of ministers occupying the role under Labor, the small business sector has a true champion and a voice at the cabinet table. The Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman is just one of a range of measures that the coalition government has implemented to assist small businesses to do what they do best—to invest, to employ and to grow.

I have spent considerable time engaging with many of the 13,000 registered small business owners in my electorate of Ryan since the budget announcement. They are telling me that at last they feel like they have a government that listens, a government that understands and a government that acts in the best interests of small businesses and their employees. I commend the work of the minister and his office, and I commend this bill to the House.

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