Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

There are over 22,000 small businesses in Menzies. They are the tradie in Doncaster who built his business from the back of a ute, the family running the restaurant in Box Hill that has fed the community for decades, the accountant in Templestowe who has set up her own practice and the pharmacist in Donvale who provides health care to the community. They take risks. They back themselves. They employ our neighbours, and they anchor our local communities.

On budget night, the Treasurer said that we would consult with small businesses and startups, and that's exactly what we've done. I reached out to my community and hosted a small business roundtable, and I heard from business owners from right across my community. The message was the same: 'Back us in, cut our costs, support us to keep serving our customers and the community.' This tax reform package delivers exactly that. We are extending the 50 per cent active asset CGT reduction to businesses with a turnover of up to $10 million. We are making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent, delivering $890 million in cash-flow support and saving small businesses 366,000 hours in record keeping. We are delivering a permanent two-year loss carry back so businesses can return to profitability faster.

Those opposite had every chance to deliver reforms like these, and they chose not to. For the businesses in Box Hill, Doncaster, Templestowe and Donvale, this is a government that has their backs.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) | Link to this | Hansard source

It's been just over six weeks since this government handed down a budget which could only be described as being as popular as the pox. In a time of a cost-of-living crisis, when Australians were looking for hope and they were looking for honesty, all they got was more taxes. Australians deserve better from a government that's out of touch in understanding the pain that's being felt out there. They were looking for honesty from a government. Instead they got more tax.

What a coalition government will do is make three main commitments to the Australian people. We will give you a tax cut every year by pegging inflation to every one of those tax brackets so that inflation doesn't eat away at your wage and you pay more tax. We're going to scrap the negative gearing. We're going to scrap capital gains and these other taxes on trusts that take away aspiration and inspiration to go out and have a go. That's what our country was built on, and that's what this government ripped away six weeks ago.

We're also going to tackle migration. We're going to make sure we have an immigration policy that works for this country. We've had one that's had too many and to not a high enough standard. We should choose who comes to this country, the skills they have and where we want them to live, because we're giving the greatest gift we can give to any person on this planet. We're going to fix the energy grid. We're not going to let net zero determine what our energy grid should be. It'll be the most affordable energy because energy is the economy. If you don't fix the fundamentals, give the economy what it needs and give people the hope and the honesty, our country will continue to go backwards.