Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia's record 2.6 million small businesses are the backbone of this nation. We all know that. They employ people, they create the economy, and they work extremely hard as small-business people. I know this. I have relatives and friends who have small businesses, and I see the work that goes into it.

This government is continually improving the operating environment for small businesses across the country, creating an environment that will help them to thrive, and that's what we should be doing as a government. We should be ensuring that small businesses have all the tools required to thrive. As I said, they are the backbone of our nation. They employ people and keep the economy going, and they work extremely hard.

We know that 2.6 million small businesses contribute about $596 billion to our national economy. Australia's small businesses employ 5.16 million people right across the country. That's 39.1 per cent of our total workforce. Nearly 40 per cent of the total workforce in Australia is employed by small businesses. That is an incredible figure when you think about it.

What has this government done to try and help and assist? We've created the National Small Business Strategy—the first of its kind to bring together governments across Australia to support our small businesses, creating efficiencies and reducing the duplication of effort; providing actionable policies and programs to support local small businesses across the nation; and elevating small businesses in the government decision-making process at each level of government.

We've investing $33.4 million to improve payment times for small businesses doing business with government. There's nothing worse than having to wait for money that you're owed, especially by government departments. So there's been an improvement in that area, including $25.3 million in the 2024-25 budget to support the overhauled Payment Times Reporting Scheme, enhancing the regulator's ability to deliver better payment outcomes for small businesses.

We legislated to extend the instant asset write-off measure to help small businesses manage their cash flow. This is about incentivising small businesses to invest in the equipment that they need to boost productivity, to create more jobs and to help them thrive. The threshold applies per asset, which means small businesses can claim multiple purchases—new tools for tradies; computers, tablets and office equipment; kitchen equipment and coffee machines for cafes et cetera.

We know that energy costs are a big burden on all of us—on families and especially on small businesses. That's why the $56.7 million Energy Efficiency Grants for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises program, which is now closed, provided up to $25,000 to eligible businesses to fund a range of energy upgrades.

There's been more than $80 million in supports through the Digital Solutions program, the Cyber Wardens program, the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service and the Cyber Health Check. We know digital technology is key to productivity and a stronger, more resilient economy.

There's the Buy Australian Plan, helping small and medium-sized businesses compete for and win more government contracts. We're updating the Commonwealth Procurement Rules to significantly increase the small and medium-sized business participation target and improving AusTender to make it easier to identify small and medium-sized businesses on government panels.

There's much more that we've done. There's more than $30 million to help small businesses through the tough times, supporting the mental health and financial wellbeing of small-business owners through the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program and the Small Business Debt Helpline.

This government understands the pressures facing small businesses. That's why we've put all these measures in place. There are many family owned cafes and small businesses that switch their lights on before dawn, tradies who keep our cities moving— (Time expired)

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