Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Bill 2025. Whilst I support the bill in its entirety, it would be natural for me to focus on a part that is particularly important to my portfolio of small business, which is schedule 7. Schedule 7 extends the $20,000 instant asset write-off until 30 June 2026 for eligible businesses. What this measure does is make a real difference to 2.6 million small businesses in Australia. That includes 1.5 million small businesses that are sole traders and who are also benefitting and have also benefitted from our government's tax cuts.

As everyone in here knows—because I hear it head said often enough that people support small business in this House—small business owners are out there every day, and they're working hard. They're working hard to fulfil their dreams. They are your Indian grocer. They are the place you go to to get your eyebrows threaded. They are where you get your Vietnamese pancakes. They are the translators and interpreters who operate with an ABN. They fix your cars. They cut your hair. They cater your birthday parties. They resole your shoes. They help you with your tax returns.

An example of a small business is My Aunt's Handmade Noodles, which I visited the other day with the member for Reid and the local mayor in her electorate. This is a family owned business, run by a formidable mother and daughter duo, and they craft these handmade noodles using time honoured techniques. The passion and care that My Aunt's Handmade Noodles brings to each and every bowl of these perfectly chewy and flavoured noodles is a level of dedication that I see in the small businesses that I visit and that I meet with right across the country.

The Albanese government is backing small businesses just like My Aunt's Handmade Noodles to ensure that they have the support that they need to thrive, because we know that not only are they building a better life for themselves and for their families, but they are also building a better future for Australia. They employ locals. They train apprentices. They give young people jobs, and they keep regional communities alive. They sponsor local sports clubs, and they donate to school raffles as well. They are not just the engine room of the economy, as is often said; they are also often the beating hearts of communities. That's why our government developed Australia's very first National Small Business Strategy.

You would think that an intimate understanding of small business would necessitate a strategy that brings together all levels of government to look at how we can collectively support small businesses to grow and to thrive. You would think that this is something that would have been done a very long time ago, but, in fact, this was done by this government, the very first National Small Business Strategy, bringing together different levels of government and focusing on three key areas: levelling the playing field for small businesses, easing the pressure on small businesses and supporting small businesses to grow.

The extension of the instant asset write-off is a really key part of our commitment under this national strategy. What it means is that small businesses with an aggregate annual turnover of less than $10 million will continue to be able to immediately deduct eligible assets costing less than $20,000. That's $20,000 per asset, not just once but right across the business. Let's have a look at what that means. What that means is that restaurants, cafes, grocers, hairdressers, tradies, accountants and small retailers can actually start to buy the equipment that they need today to keep their businesses going, today and into tomorrow. No matter where I go, when I speak to small businesses, the one thing that constantly comes up is how important the instant asset write-off is in helping them grow and modernise and the extension of the instant asset write-off, giving these businesses the confidence to plan, to budget and to invest as well.

For small businesses looking to grow, the instant asset write-off frees up cash flow so that they can purchase new equipment that allows them to expand their operations or open new locations. At a recent roundtable that I attended in the member for Swan's electorate, in Belmont, a group of small businesses there told me that managing cash flow was one of their biggest daily challenges. Really, that makes sense, doesn't it?

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