Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) | Hansard source

I second the member for Wentworth's motion. I'm pleased to support this bill, the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Supporting Small Businesses To Be Paid On Time) Bill 2026, which tackles one of the corrosive pressures facing small businesses: not getting paid on time. Late payment by large businesses to their small suppliers is one of the biggest drivers of small business financial stress, and inadequate cash flow remains the single most reported cause of small business insolvency.

The mechanism in this bill is elegant. We already require large businesses to report their payment times. This bill simply says that if you consistently pay your small suppliers late—averaging more than 30 days across three consecutive reporting cycles—you should not be eligible for the largest Commonwealth contracts. That's a powerful lever. Large businesses make up around 79 per cent of the Commonwealth's $71 billion procurement program. Tying access to that program to fair payment creates a real, ongoing incentive to pay promptly. It's measured and fair, with sensible exemptions, and it's self-correcting: pay on time and the restriction falls away.

A fortnight ago I sat down with hospitality owners in Curtin running some of the best venues in Perth—venues like Lulu La Delizia, Monsterella Pizza, Juanita's and Kith. The clear message was that it's getting harder just to stay afloat. Rents and insurance have gone up 20 per cent in a year. Credit card surcharge changes are costing a single venue about $25,000 annually. Wage and superannuation increases are adding up to $50,000 more. And as those wages rise, state payroll tax thresholds stay frozen, so businesses are taxed more simply for paying their staff properly. There is cost after cost, with no-one asking how it all adds up.

That's the context for this bill. These small businesses are price takers at both ends, squeezed by rising costs on one side and customers whose own spending is under pressure on the other. There is very little room to support another hit, so when a large customer or supplier pays late, using a small business as a cheap form of finance, it's one more pressure on an operator already stretched to the limit. One owner put it plainly: it feels like small businesses are left to pay the bill, while big businesses have their accountants and leverage to avoid carrying their share. These owners weren't asking for a free ride. As one put it, they just want to make it 'a little bit easier to do what we love'.

This bill is one concrete way that we can make it easier. It doesn't cost the budget a cent. It doesn't add a reporting obligation. It just says that if you want public contracts, you have to treat the small businesses in your supply chain fairly. In Curtin, these small businesses are the fabric of our community. They create the jobs, take the risks and bring our neighbourhoods to life. The least we can do is make sure they get paid on time. I commend this bill to the House.

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