Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Small Business. What is the government doing to help the 2.7 million small businesses in Australia and their five million employees deal with cost-of-living pressures?

Mr Ewen Jones interjecting—

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Herbert is warned!

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wills for his question and his sincere interest in the small businesses not just around the country but particularly within his own electorate. I was recently able to visit some of those small businesses and talk to them about the way they can leverage the rollout of the NBN and the fantastic opportunities that are afforded them as a result of that fantastic piece of infrastructure.

The member asks about the issues of confronting cost-of-living pressures. Can I say to the member and to the House that this government is acutely aware of the cost-of-living pressures confronting ordinary Australians. That is why in relation to small business we made some decisions that will create the environment in which small business can thrive. We have, for example, enhanced the benefit and simplified the depreciation rules for small business. What does that mean? It means, firstly, that you can purchase assets up to $6½ thousand, ensuring an instant tax write-off. That means an immediate depreciation, providing cash-flow solutions for small business. It also means that depreciation schedules will be lessened, reducing paperwork for small business.

We have also introduced the loss carryback initiative. This is a fantastic initiative for at least 110,000 incorporated small businesses in this country that allows them the opportunity, if they have made a loss in the financial year, to claim a refund of company tax paid in the preceding year. We have tripled the tax-free threshold, which is very important for unincorporated small businesses, allowing for $18,200 to be tax free.

We have delivered a budget surplus by making tough fiscal decisions. This will create the environment in which the Reserve Bank, if it chooses to do so, can lower the official cash rate—again, a very important thing for small businesses. We saw the reduction by 50 basis points of interest rates to small businesses. That provides greater access to credit for small businesses around the country.

Broadly, we have compensated the vast majority of Australians and, indeed, overcompensated four out of every 10 households for the estimated 0.7 per cent modest rise in prices that will flow from the carbon price from 1 July. I do believe these are very important initiatives. We would hope that the Leader of the Opposition would support some of these, but we have a Liberal Party leader who, for the first time in that party's history, opposed tax relief for small business because he continues with his nasty, negative attacks on people generally. (Time expired)