Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I do not accept the premise of that question. Clearly the opposition opposed the tax cuts to small business. The opposition are in fact completely at odds with how they can help small business. But let us start with the facts for small business. There are no forms to fill out, no new regulations to comply with and most will not be significantly affected as they are not heavy consumers of gas or electricity. The price paid for electricity by a typical small business has risen by around 10 per cent. Electricity makes up two per cent or less of costs.

Those opposite would in fact inflate it to something like the cheeky little argument they ran about the carbon price when it came into effect on 1 July. That was not true and they are now saying the same for small business—that small business will somehow be destroyed as a consequence of the carbon price. It will not. You are now running again a mischievous false argument.

If you look at the scare campaign in recent question times we have seen the opposition waving around electricity accounts. I am surprised the opposition did not have an electricity account to wave around this time other than a broad smear campaign that it is now operating under.

What the opposition fail to mention is that most of the increase in electricity prices faced by small business have been driven by investment in network infrastructure, the majority of which is state owned. They also appear blissfully unaware of seasonal variations in electricity use, unlike the rest of us. There are seasonal variations in electricity prices, and if you look at what we are doing for small business— (Time expired)