House debates Questions without Notice

Small Business

Wednesday, 14 October 2026 House of Representatives

Mary Aldred

Mary Aldred Monash, Liberal Party

2:00 pm

My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Labor MPs are sounding the alarm about the minister's war on small business. Today the Sydney Morning Herald quoted one Labor MP as saying 'tradespeople were told for years to use trusts' and are 'now being made to feel like the government' is 'coming after them'. When will this minister start listening to Australians who have a go, axe Labor's toxic taxes impacting thousands of tradies and stop waging war on small business?

Anne Aly

Anne Aly Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development

2:01 pm

I thank the member opposite for her question. I'm asked about small business, Mr Speaker. Last year, a record number of more than 385,000 new businesses were added to the economy—mostly small businesses. And, in fact, 1.4 million companies have registered since we came into office. That's 35 per cent higher than under the previous government and two and a half times higher than under the Howard government. Insolvency, as a proportion, is around half what it averaged under the Howard government. We've made the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent, giving some certainty to small businesses, and we've made the two-year loss carry-back permanent—both measures introduced by a Labor government, both measures wound back by coalition governments.