Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that small and family business insolvencies have exploded since the election of the Government, as its policies crush confidence and drive businesses to close;

(2) recognises that:

(a) the Government's industrial relations changes have replaced flexibility and fairness with confusion and compliance;

(b) the Government's energy policies have driven up power bills for shops, cafes, workshops and family enterprises; and

(c) small and family business are being forced to work longer hours for less return, while competing against government-subsidised sectors and ever increasing compliance costs;

(3) further notes that the voices of small and family businesses have been drowned out by union and big-corporate interests within the Government's decision making;

(4) condemns the Government for abandoning small and family businesses by:

(a) ignoring calls for tax relief and simpler regulation;

(b) pursuing workplace laws that punish entrepreneurship and flexibility; and

(c) failing to provide a clear pathway for small businesses to grow and employ more Australians; and

(5) affirms that the Opposition stands with small and family businesses who back themselves, create jobs and keep communities strong.

Nearly two million small businesses operate in Australia, often forgoing the safety of a salary for the opportunity for economic progress to back them and their families and to create economic opportunity for others. Most small-business people are just Aussies backing themselves. They're the engine room of the economy. They're also the creators of employment. Small-business people are often the people who give the next generation their first job in the community. They didn't wait for permission; they're just living out the full aspect of commercial hope. They are the best of what we should want for our country, but they live a brutal reality.

Last year 14,000 small businesses collapsed—record insolvencies. They're facing higher costs and regulation. State taxes like land tax and payroll tax are crippling them. We have a cost-of-small-business crisis. Often they pay themselves last, after they pay their staff and their suppliers. They struggle to get finance, and profit is normally more theory than lived. This government assumes they all have human resources departments, tax departments, and legal and industrial relations departments. It doesn't understand they're normally sole operators or have a small number of staff that they can employ. They don't want a handout from government. They just want a fair go. What they need is a champion. They need a movement to stand up and speak out for them. But from this government, they're not getting it.

Small-business people have a right to earn an honest living without being strangled by Canberra, because it's simply about having profitability. If you can't make a profit, you can't employ, you can't invest and you can't survive. It's about fairness because a system designed for multinational unions should not be imposed on a family cafe with three staff. It's about pride because every 'open' sign in every shop window is an act of defiance and of hope. And it's about our future because the next generation of Australian jobs, innovation and growth won't come from governments or bureaucracies but from the courage and creativity of small businesses to back themselves.

That's why we need a profitability revolution. We need people to employ Australians again, through a fair work reset. And we need local economic power, where small businesses go on to employ others and create opportunities for the rest of the community. There's never been a time when we've needed more people to stand up and speak out for small business against state governments and this federal government, who do so much to cripple them. It's so important now to be part of change, because when small business stands tall, Australia stands strong. And it's so important that we stand with small business because we need to fight for shopkeepers who can't find staff. We need to fight for the tradie who's drowning in compliance. We need to fight for the cafe owner facing yet another impossible bill. We need to fight for every small-business person that feels alone and abandoned. Well, you're not alone. Some of us believe strongly in what you're doing and want to stand up for you because when small business stands tall, Australia stands strong. And it's time we did that.

This government have no vision or no hope for small business, but the opposition do. We believe in backing you because you've backed yourself. The reality is that the status quo is not good enough. We need the two million small businesses in this country to be proud, to be confident and to rally together to stand up against a government that wants to cripple them. We need those small businesses to stand up, have their voice heard in this nation's parliament and call out the overtaxation, overregulation and all of the other limitations that are stopping them from being their best selves so they can support their communities.

So often, small businesses are on the front line of community service delivery. They're the ones that are sponsoring the local footy club and the local netball club, or making sure that they can meet consumer needs. They're often on the front line of making sure that people can get access to the goods and services they need in their community when larger businesses don't see it as economically or commercially viable.

That's why small business matters so much. It's not just about providing economic opportunities for families but also about creating that first step on the ladder of opportunity for the next generation of Australians. We'll always back in small business, because it's a central pillar of the Australian economy.

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