The strength of our community often lies in our small businesses. They sponsor local sporting clubs, they employ local people, they support community events and they build the character of our neighbourhoods. However, many are in trouble and struggling.

Along with many other small-business owners, a local accountant who, through both their own practice and their professional network, sees the finances of hundreds of small businesses in detail contacted my office to outline a picture of the health of our small businesses, both locally and nationally—and they are doing it tough. Many businesses are struggling to remain viable. The pressures they face are cumulative. Rising interest rates have increased their borrowing costs, with operating expenses continuing to rise. Simultaneously, business owners are adapting to changes affecting payroll tax, superannuation obligations, new pay-as-you-go tax arrangements, payment processing costs and compliance requirements.

The government seems to be completely oblivious to the environment in which small businesses are operating and struggling under ever-increasing compliance requirements. Keep in mind that these are not large corporations with dedicated compliance teams and extensive resources. They're often mum-and-dad small businesses that have served our communities for years. The cumulative impact of growing requirements is becoming overwhelming for so many small businesses. Every new obligation, every new reporting requirement and every additional compliance cost may appear minor in isolation, but, together, they create a significant burden that disincentivises new businesses and punishes existing ones.

It's time for some quick numbers, to give you an idea. Since 2000, Commonwealth laws with the biggest impacts on businesses have grown in complexity and size by some 225 per cent. The number of restrictive terms within legislation impacting small businesses—such as 'shall', 'must' and 'prohibited'—has doubled. We're talking about a whole lot of compliance that keeps adding to this network and web that is so restrictive for small businesses. Meanwhile, the job market for people with a simple identification in their job description—the term 'compliance'—has doubled since 2010. The estimated annual cost of compliance, just for Commonwealth regulation alone, has risen from $65 billion in 2013 to $159 billion in 2024.

If you're wondering why so many small businesses are struggling to continue at the moment, look no further. We can't keep putting so many layers of burden and compliance on them. It's costing business, it's hampering innovation and it's slowing down productivity. We need a deregulation agenda that stacks up and takes a load off small business. That means listening to stakeholders' pain points, testing the rationale with departments and regulators and asking whether rules achieve their objectives or if there is perhaps a better way of achieving the outcome at less cost. The burden isn't just about volume; it's often about the process and experience of dealing with government and then enforcement.

None of this should be radical. Everyone in this place says that they are for small business, but, when you look at the practical impact of repeated legislation that keeps increasing the level of compliance, one has to wonder how much you are really listening to small business. Who is a voice for small business to government? There are a lot of people contacting my office to say they just don't think the government gets it—that the government just doesn't understand the environment in which businesses are operating.

We all want small businesses to be able to thrive and grow. To do this, we have to ensure that businesses have the conditions they need to succeed. It means recognising cumulative impact and regulatory and financial pressures. It's too complex, it's too onerous and it's too expensive to comply, and the continual changes are such a disincentive for people commencing small businesses.