Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the contributions from those opposite. Of course, small-business owners are fearful because those opposite have been whipping up a scare campaign that is almighty. Those opposite are scaring small-business owners, and that's why they've been flooded with these emails and texts. Those opposite are a veritable haunted house that you roll out at Halloween. There's a scare campaign at every corner. We've got the ghoulish ghost of the so-called death tax, the zombie return of the tax on aspiration and the same tired lines they drag out every single time there's a whiff of reform. They creak open the door, whisper a new fear and dress it up to look real, but, when Australians turn on the lights, there's nothing there. There's no death tax. There's no grand conspiracy. What there is is support for small businesses.

The claims that they are making today—in all the emails and texts that they are reading out—that these changes somehow hurt every small-business owner, every farmer and every saver are simply not true. When, in this place, we talk about small businesses, we should do it with respect but, importantly, with facts. Small businesses employ millions of Australians and contribute enormously to our economy. In my electorate of Reid alone, there are around 26,000 small businesses. They are the cafes along Majors Bay Road, family shops in Five Dock, restaurants in Burwood, small firms in Rhodes and tradies who keep our suburbs running, and they deserve facts. They are not just businesses; they are local families, local jobs and a myriad of stories of hard work and opportunity.

So let's give them facts. Around 90 per cent of small businesses will not be affected by these CGT changes at all. That is nine in 10 small businesses that will be unaffected. We didn't hear that from those opposite. If you've owned your business for 15 years and you're retiring, you still pay zero capital gains tax. You can still reduce gains by 50 per cent on active assets. You can still exclude up to $500,000 through the retirement exemption. And you can still defer CGT by reinvesting in another business asset. The reason why nine in 10 small businesses will remain unaffected by our CGT reforms is that those four exemptions still remain, so stop with the scare campaigns. When those opposite claim every business owner is under attack, they are not telling the truth. They are trying to scare people, and we have to call it out.

Let's also be clear that this is not rushed reform. There is a clear transition period from 2027, giving businesses time to plan and restructure if they need to. This is responsible policymaking. 'Responsible' is an adjective that those opposite may not understand, because they've been running away from it for so long, but, on this side of the House, we are about responsible policymaking. Those opposite talk about backing small business, but, when they were in government, what was their track record? Too often, small businesses were left to fend for themselves. Those opposite announced deregulation agendas. They came in here talking about cutting red tape, but nearly half of businesses said regulation was stopping them from growing. That's not delivery; that's disappointment.

The difference here is that we on this side of the House are providing practical support for small businesses: a permanent $20,000 instant asset write-off so businesses can invest with certainty; loss carry-back, so you can recover from tough years; real reduction in red tape and compliance costs; and a cut in energy bills and help to improve energy efficiency. And, importantly—and this is something that those opposite completely mismanaged—we are investing in skills and training because that's what small businesses need—they need skilled workers. So we are backing small businesses. We're not running fear campaigns. We're not using recycled attacks. Get with the program.

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