Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Small businesses employ almost half the total number of private sector employees. Regrettably, in our country we currently have a federal government that constantly ignores and refuses to listen to such a vital sector. Since 2007, Australians have been slugged with Labor's carbon tax, mining tax, repeated broken promises on company tax and its class-war rhetoric.

Labor promised they would follow a strict one-in one-out approach to the growth of regulations. Successive Labor governments have indeed repealed 104 regulations. Unfortunately, in the same time frame, they introduced not 104 but an additional 20,900 regulations. So, for every regulation removed, 200 regulations have been added. It is plain to see that Labor is absolutely committed to greater and greater regulation, more bureaucracy and increasing intrusion into business and the marketplace. What this means for small business—and what the Labor government has been ignoring—is that there are almost 250,000 fewer people employed in small business today than when the Labor Party came into government.

I know that small businesses are doing it tough. When there are so many problems in the economy impacting on small business—such as the high Australian dollar, subdued consumer confidence and a subdued economic outlook—the 'more of the same' approach from this government does nothing to address the concerns of small business. This is why I have launched the Ryan Small Business Survey to hear the views from small businesses in Ryan about how I and the coalition can best improve conditions for their operations. Already, many small businesses in Ryan have told me how concerned they are, particularly because consumers are facing increasing cost-of-living pressures and are spending less across the board.

While businesses have had to spend thousands of dollars on compliance and rising input costs as a result of policies such as the carbon tax, consumers are tightening their spending following major price hikes in energy costs, child care and private health insurance. At all levels of government, small businesses have told me of the difficulty they have in tendering for government contracts. My priority as the member for Ryan is to help build a strong economy through lower taxes, more efficient government and more productive businesses which will deliver more jobs and better services for families in Ryan.

The federal coalition will support small business, as we have already announced, by: rescinding the carbon tax in order to reduce the rising pressures of electricity prices on, for example, every hairdresser, every newsagency and every drycleaner in the country; reducing the regulatory costs to all businesses by at least $1 billion a year and not changing current laws relating to the treatment of personal services income; relieving the red tape burden on Australia's small businesses by giving them the option to remit the compulsory superannuation payments made on behalf of workers directly to the ATO; and supporting and refocusing on family and home-run businesses. In particular, deregulation reform is a key part of the coalition's plan to free up Australia's businesses so that they can create more jobs and opportunities for all Australians. It is also part of our plan to help reduce the administrative burden on Australian community and not-for-profit organisations and allow them to focus more on their important work of strengthening local communities.

The Productivity Commission has estimated that reducing unnecessary red tape could generate as much as $12 billion in extra GDP per year. Therefore, the coalition is absolutely committed to reducing annual red tape by at least $1 billion for individuals, small businesses and society as a whole. Cutting red tape is not just about improving the economy and providing the opportunity for growth. For a small business person running a café, newsagency or lawn-mowing business, red tape means less time with customers, less time earning money and, more concerning, less time with their families. We know that many small businesses are run by individuals, mums and dads and their families. They are run by hardworking people, who might not get holidays or even weekends or who might not draw a salary for years.

Fundamentally, the coalition has the guiding principle that, to help small business, government must get out of the way. We must ease conditions and reduce regulations on small businesses so that they can grow. That is why I am committed to what we can restore—hope, reward and opportunity for all Australian small businesses.