Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I take the opportunity to congratulate you on your new role, and I also want to thank the member for Wills, who knows that small businesses are a critical part of his local community and have a large impact on the economy there.

Small businesses, of course, are the engine room of the nation's economy. They're at the centre of local communities, and they employ millions of Australians. We all know what a difficult few years small businesses have had in this country with the global pandemic. Of course, there have been floods and there have been bushfires, and we know that it's had a significant impact on them, but they have been incredibly resilient.

Despite the resilience, though, small businesses are facing challenges. We heard from the Treasurer earlier today about what some of those challenges are. Small businesses know that we inherited $1 trillion of debt. They know that rising inflation is increasing the cost of their supplies. They know that interest rates are increasing. They know that electricity prices are increasing—

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