Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Like my colleagues, I have been speaking to businesses across Australia about their experience of Labor's cost-of-living crisis on them and on their operations. One business owner told me that the cost of supplies was increasing 30 per cent week on week. Minister, what is this Labor government doing to alleviate this inflation on small businesses and does she agree with her colleague the Assistant Treasurer that there will be hyper inflation?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to talk about Labor's economic plan to address the cost of living crisis that we inherited from a government that had wasted a decade, that had not dealt with the policy challenges, that had their heads in the sand and that used the budget like it was money made available for the National Party. That's what we are fixing. We accept that businesses are under a lot of pressure. They haven't had an energy policy for the last 10 years. There were 22 failed policies under your government when you were in power. That's what small business is saying to us. Yes, there are challenges, but we need to deal with them, and Labor's economic plan does exactly that.

In dealing with the cost of living crisis, we have made submissions to the Fair Work Commission to make sure that working people, those on the minimum wage, actually get a decent pay rise. We have extended some of the pandemic payments that your mob had ended or were going to end and we've kept them going. We will debate this week the Climate Change Bill to put in place the regulatory and legislative framework to deal with the impacts—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, please resume your seat. I'm running the Senate, and I will call senators when I'm good and ready, thank you, Senator Hughes.

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order. We are a minute into a two-minute answer and the minister hasn't answered the question about the effects of inflation on small businesses, and specifically about the potential for hyper inflation.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hume. I believe Senator Gallagher is relevant.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In response to the second part, the forecast for inflation was detailed in the Treasurer's July economic update statement. But I am explaining to the shadow minister for finance exactly what we are doing to put downward pressure on costs on businesses and households. I can go through it again. We've got child care, we've got cheaper medicines coming in, we have a bring forward the training places to deal with the skills crisis that small business are also discussing with us, after years of not dealing with workforce shortages and the skills training to make sure that young people and older workers have the skills that they need for the jobs of the future. They are just some of the things we have done in three months, as opposed to your nine years of inaction.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call Senator Hume for a supplementary question, I remind those on my right that Senator Hume has the right to put her question in silence. I struggled to hear her question.

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the minister that, in fact, child care, COVID payments and minimum payments are doing nothing to help small business inflation. Another small business owner told me that she had begun absorbing fixed costs because, with the other cost-of-living pressures, she didn't think customers would be able to afford any additional price increases. So, Minister, what do you have to tell this business that will assist them in making sure they can stay open and that they can stay profitable? And does she agree with her colleague, the Assistant Treasurer, that there will be more strikes?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a lot in that question. As the Prime Minister has said, this government is pro-business. We are pro working with business to deal with the challenges that they are dealing with right now after a decade of wasted opportunity and inaction by those opposite, who have the nerve to come in here now and start blaming us for the economic challenges that we have inherited. These didn't happen overnight; they didn't happen on 21 May. They've been brewing for years: skills, climate change, energy policy, dealing with the challenges in visa backlogs, in migration—all the issues that we are responding to now, after your government had its head in the sand because you were too busy fighting each other or throwing dodgy cash to the National Party.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hume, a second supplementary question?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've also had a small business tell me—in fact, more than one—that they're currently working through plans to lower the number of hours for staff in expectation of an economic downturn. What does this minister have to tell these businesses, who see no plan from this government? And does she agree with her colleague the Assistant Treasurer, who said that under a Labor government there would be a very rocky economic period?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can assure the shadow finance minister that we will be working closely with small business. They were at the table at the Jobs and Skills Summit. They were deeply involved in the discussions through their peak organisations. We were working with small business and their industry representatives, and business was very well represented at the Jobs and Skills Summit. So we will be dealing with the things they want to see dealt with—like skills, like increasing the migration numbers, like dealing with climate change, like putting in place an energy policy, and like supporting them in terms of some of the challenges around cyber and digital. These are all the issues that we're looking at. We also want to ensure that people who are using these businesses have enough money in their pockets to spend in those businesses. That's why we are supporting reasonable and responsible wage increases for working people.