Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to call on the Albanese and Cook governments to better support regional business owners following natural disasters. In March, northern Western Australia was devastated by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle. The damage was particularly felt by small and family businesses in Exmouth and the surrounding areas. Small and family businesses rely heavily on tourism in this region as the gateway to the beautiful Ningaloo Reef, employing backpackers and locals to meet demand through the peak tourism season. Disappointingly, many of these businesses have been unable to access financial support from the state or federal governments.

On my recent visit to the area, following Tropical Cyclone Narelle, I heard firsthand the genuine concern from business owners regarding their survival over the coming period. While many tourism and accommodation providers have thankfully been given further support, other retail businesses have been left to pick themselves up and navigate this next difficult period, all the while facing an increase in the cost of doing business due to the damage caused by Cyclone Narelle. Every business in Exmouth is a tourism business. From the local cafe to the tackle shop or the local IGA, all of them are reliant upon tourism. Without visitors, they do not survive.

This is just another example of Labor turning their backs on regional Western Australians and those in the private sector. No government of either side of politics should discriminate against small businesses in natural disaster support. Now is not the time to pick and choose who gets support and who does not. Simply put, it is un-Australian and unjustified. Small businesses do more than just stimulate the economy. They provide jobs for locals, provide essential goods and services for the community and promote belonging and gathering. Quite simply, they deserve better from this government.

Now to the disastrous budget we heard last night—Labor has built taxes off broken promises, not necessarily targeting the wealthy, as they would have you believe, but targeting mum-and-dad investors in regional Western Australia. Shame on Labor. We've seen the Treasurer and the Prime Minister spouting that changes to negative gearing are to help young people to get into their own homes. Well, what a nonsense! Labor's own budget papers show 35,000 fewer houses, higher rents and sadly the end of aspiration in this country—what a ridiculous thing! Thirty-nine per cent of dwellings in Durack are rented. Those 25,000 renters are now, thanks to Labor, paying more in a cost-of-living crisis. As with everything Labor does, politics comes first. Better outcomes for regional Western Australians come very last.