Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to highlight how on Tuesday, the first sitting day back after the Christmas break, there was an item scheduled for debate to deal with administrative changes to the Paid Parental Leave scheme. The opposition signalled that what we aimed to do is not only support those amendments that the government has brought forward, which take account of circumstances and experience that has arisen since the introduction of the scheme, but also move some additional amendments that give employers big and small the option of not being an unpaid pay clerk for the Commonwealth. As it currently stands the Commonwealth insists upon all employers, big and small—whether or not they have the capacity or the willingness and whether or not they are even able to make the changes within their systems—handling the money on behalf of the Commonwealth as a go-between between the taxpayer funding and the eligible recipient. This is just needless, unnecessary and unwanted red tape. Small businesses are time poor. They do not need to carry the additional administrative burden for no good reason. There is no public policy justification whatsoever for imposing this additional regulatory and compliance cost on small business.

So it was a very simple, practical and, I think, extraordinarily well supported measure, if I can go by the statements from small businesses around Australia and the small business community. But what happened? This legislative amendment has gone into the Bermuda Triangle! It has just disappeared. It has just gone. People are looking there thinking, 'Where's it gone? It was on the Notice Paper.' It has not been seen since. It has escaped. It is like the Ronald Biggs of parliamentary reform! It has just gone and no-one knows where it has gone.

My concern is that I suspect it has been withdrawn from the business agenda for the House of Representatives because the government knows its position is indefensible. It knows any fair-minded person can see there is no upside and no public policy justification for an additional red-tape burden, particularly on small business. Our amendment basically says that, if the government wants to outsource that pay clerk function, it should have the consent of the employer and the eligible recipient.

I accept there are some companies who do not care. I know Sony came out last time we raised this measure, saying they were perfectly happy with it. They have probably got more staff in their pay office than most small businesses in a country town have in total. That is fine for them. They are in a position to handle that payment. In fact, they already had an employer funded payment that they were just going to top up with the Commonwealth's money. But small businesses are not in that situation. They do not have that expensive infrastructure just sitting there ready to do one extra task. I call on the government to bring this legislation forward and give small business some comfort that the government understands the pressure they are under. The Minister for Small Business, Mark Arbib, said he would knock down doors to make sure small business's voice was heard. Well, he has gone from door buster to feather duster! He has just been brushed aside here and then he has come out attacking me for even raising the issue. So now he is just verbal bluster. How about something constructive for the small business community? Please bring on this legislation and fix it properly for small business. (Time expired)