Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy) | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for Riverina. As always, that was a fine contribution to an important debate. We heard a discussion in this House earlier about artificial intelligence and, specifically, data centres. The reality is that, more and more in this House, we are going to see conversations, debate and legislation about the impacts of artificial intelligence on our community, organisations and sectors. AI and the discussion on artificial intelligence will impact everything and everyone. So, as bills relating to AI come to the House, it is important that, where we can, we speak in a bipartisan way with one voice to give the community and the private sector—and the public sector and organisations—confidence and certainty about how we will approach legislation and how we will approach artificial intelligence.

It is so disappointing that, like so many bills from this government, this bill, the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026, contains measures that have no connection and no relationship with each other at all. One measure is around artificial intelligence, and specifically how the Fair Work Commission has seen a significant increase in applications, and also in the length of applications, because applicants have been able to use artificial intelligence to write submissions so easily and in such detail. That is a genuine concern and a genuine issue that needs to be addressed and is being addressed by this legislation. And it is legislation, to give the Fair Work Commission the support they need, that the coalition supports.

But, like so many pieces of legislation that were debating this week and that we have debated in the four years that I've been a member of this House, this government seeks to play wedge politics and has included a provision in the bill that is not related to AI but furthers their agenda and is so egregious that they know the coalition cannot support it. That is what they have done with this piece of legislation. They have added procurement requirements for the Public Service. One of the biggest drivers of opportunity in our country is procurement of government services, and this bill provides for unions and the union movement through enterprise bargaining agreements to get special treatment when it comes to procurement. I will touch on how egregious that is later in this speech, but, if you want to see how bad it is when you have unions controlling procurement, come and visit Victoria and see the $15 billion that has been rorted from taxpayers by the CFMEU. We have a premier, Jacinta Allan, who does not even want to investigate that $15 billion. That number, $15 billion of taxpayer money rorted and wasted in Victoria with the premier that won't look at it, will follow that premier to the election in November. It will follow every member of the Labor Party at a state and federal level in Victoria because they refuse to investigate and lift the lid on that $15 billion of taxpayer money that has been rorted out of the system.

To make it so typical of this prime minister—this is a prime minister that always says one thing and does another when it comes to wedging. Let me quote the Prime Minister in his very first press conference as Prime Minister on 22 May 2022:

I look forward to leading a Government that makes Australians proud. A Government that doesn't seek to divide, that doesn't seek to have wedges, but seeks to bring people together for our common interest and our common purpose.

This is another example of this prime minister saying one thing before an election or when he was just elected and delivering the complete opposite afterwards. It is no wonder that the Australian people have worked this prime minister out. It is literally harder to find a quote from the Prime Minister that is consistent with his actions today. I've not been able to find one thing where this prime minister and his actions today have been consistent with what he has said previously. That legacy will haunt this prime minister to the next election. We look at these examples that we're dealing with. Governments have choices.

We support the Fair Work Commission part of this. But, when it comes to procurement, that is one of the largest levers of opportunity government has, if not the largest—directing the public service and directing government bodies in how they spend taxpayer money to procure services for the taxpayer. They should always make sure that value for money for the taxpayer is first there. But the other opportunity they have is that they can choose to support their union mates or they can choose to support small businesses. They can support Australian businesses by putting requirements into that legislation that they're doing now to support Australian businesses and small businesses, but this government chose to support unions and their union mates over the small businesses of this country. I'm proud to represent a community where small business is at the heart of our community. It is at the heart of everything that we do in Casey. It supports our sporting clubs, our volunteer groups and our community groups, and we're here to be the voice of our small businesses.

I want to read a letter from Candice, who is a small-business owner in my community. She directed this to the Prime Minister. It's so important that her words are heard today, and her words represent so many small businesses across the country. She says: 'Dear Prime Minister, I am writing not as an economist or politician but as a fourth-generation small-business owner who is becoming increasingly concerned about the future of Australian family businesses. For generations, our jewellery business has proudly served our community, employed local people and contributed to the Australian economy.

Today, however, we are struggling under the weight of rising costs, increasing wages, soaring utility bills, insurance premiums, rent and countless other expenses that continue to grow while consumer spending slows. Small-business owners are resilient people, but many of us are reaching breaking point. We hear a lot about cost-of-living pressures on households, but where is the support for the people who provide jobs and keep our local community alive? Where is the assistance for small businesses trying to survive? Where is the recognition that behind every small business is a family carrying enormous burdens and responsibilities? And where is the support for the mental health of business owners who lie awake at night wondering how they will pay suppliers, cover wages and provide security, not only for their own families but for the families of their employees as well? Small business owners don't clock off. We carry the responsibility every day. We celebrate our staff's successes, worry about their livelihoods and often put ourselves last to ensure everyone else gets paid. Yet many of us feel forgotten. We are not asking for handouts. We are asking for understanding, practical assistance and policies that recognise the essential role small businesses play in Australia's economy and communities.

Australian small businesses are hurting. Many are on their knees. Rising living costs, increased operating expenses and mounting pressures are pushing longstanding family businesses to the brink. If fourth-generation businesses that have survived wars, recessions and countless challenges are now questioning whether they can continue, surely something is wrong. Please don't let small businesses become an afterthought. We need genuine support, meaningful conversations and a government that understands that, when small businesses suffer, entire communities suffer with them. Australia was built on hard work, aspiration and family enterprise. We simply ask that those values are not forgotten.

Yours sincerely, Candice.'

Candice, it was a privilege and an honour to read your words into the Hansard so that all Australians could hear your story. You said it perfectly. I couldn't have said it better myself. The coalition sees you. We hear you. We support small business. We know that strong small businesses means that families are strong, communities are strong and our country is strong. That's why, as a coalition, we want to support small business, not just with words but with policies and actions.

We want to allow any business with a turnover of less than $10 million to immediately deduct assets of up to $50,000 on a permanent basis, supporting businesses to invest. This is going to help tradies to buy tools, farmers to buy equipment, cafes to upgrade kitchens and small businesses—like Candice's—to invest with confidence. We're going to rewrite and simplify the legislative rulebook, including the Corporations Act, the tax act, the competition act, the National Construction Code and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. It's so important. You shouldn't have to need a lawyer to run a small business and understand legislation. A coalition government will impose new responsibilities on regulators by law. We will require regulators to act in a way that encourages competition, nurtures investment, increases productivity, boosts wages and grows the economy. We will axe Labor's toxic taxes—taxes on ambition and every small business in my community of Casey and across the country.

We will consult on a small business act. We are proposing at least four key pillars. Firstly, there will be a single definition; all Commonwealth law will refer to one definition of a small business. This will provide simplicity for business owners so they can understand straightaway whether they will be impacted by legislative changes. Then there will be a right to be paid. Cash is king. Cash flow is the lifeblood of a business. It's not the profit and loss sheet that kills a business. It's the cash balance, and cash is king. We will have a legal maximum payment term to small business from government and big business to make sure that you get paid and you get paid as soon as possible. We will also have a right to be heard. As appropriate, each new law should require a small-business regulatory impact statement, and there should be pathways for feedback to the RBA, ASIC, the ATO and Fair Work so that small-business voices can be heard. Lastly, we will have a right to bid. There will be new and expanded minimum requirements for government procurement that must come from small business.

This is the choice. This bill, in many ways, sums up the difference between the coalition and the Liberal Party, and the Labor Party and the government. We want to back small business. We want to give you the opportunity to benefit from government contracts. We want to make less red tape for you. We want to get out of your way and allow you to thrive.

But what does this government choose to do? This government chooses to write legislation to back the CFMEU and the unions, and the scary part is that it's about to get worse. Andrew McKellar, the chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, wrote yesterday in the Australian about the 2018 CFMEU manifesto titled Goodbye neoliberalism. It had 18 sweeping recommendations for reshaping Australia's economy.

The scary part about this CFMEU wish list of Goodbye neoliberalism is that at least half of that agenda has been implemented by the Albanese Labor government, the same Labor government that is happy to back the CFMEU and Jacinta Allan in Victoria and does not even want to look into the $15 billion of taxpayer money that was rorted by the CFMEU. It refuses to look into where that money went. The scary part for Australians is that they're halfway through. They're nine down; there are nine to go. Conveniently for them, that report was scrubbed off the CFMEU website.

The coalition will always back Australians. We'll always back small businesses, just as they deserve.

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