Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

The first point I would make in relation to small business is that those opposite should be very careful about some of the propositions they are putting forward in their very dishonest scare campaign. The average price impact across the economy will be 0.7 per cent. The data provided to the government by COSBOA shows the electricity costs of a typical small retail business make up less than two per cent of total costs. On the basis of the Treasury modelling, the cost increase of the carbon price will therefore only be 0.2 per cent of overall expenditure for the typical small business.

If the senator is concerned about South Australia's economy, however, perhaps he should go into his party room and deal with issues such as the submarines project, which is so important to the economy of South Australia and which the coalition is refusing to support. (Time expired)