Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Small business owners, start-ups, founders and entrepreneurs were shocked to learn on Wednesday morning that they've got a new co-founder. Somehow a sneaky shareholder has crept onto their capital table, taking 47 per cent of their business. Who is this new shareholder on their cap table? Have they invested in the business, brought money to the business? No, they haven't done that. Have they agreed to put in long hours and take sweat equity in return? No, they haven't done that. Maybe they have brought in a whale of a client, helping the business to scale and grow and reach new heights. No, they haven't done that either. The sneaky shareholder who has crept onto the capital table is none other than the Prime Minister and his Labor government, who have basically gone about nationalising and taking a share of these businesses.

This is how it works if you're a start-up founder. You pour your life into it. You borrow against your house. You max out your credit card. You live off your partner's income. You might stay living at home so that you save on the rent. If you take on staff, you're not paying them properly; you're giving them sweat equity. You do all that and work hard to build the business because, if you succeed and grow something and make something, you will be rewarded. You will get to keep what you have grown. If you start a small business, your cost base is zero, and when it comes time to sell the business, the government, as a result of the changes announced in the budget, is saying we're going to take 47 per cent of that.

I want to read just one message I have from a founder about this. 'This government now wants us to take a large chunk of this upside away from us in the name of fairness. What is not fair is changing the rules during the match. We have done everything by the book and created jobs for our country. Now, incentives are being cut down on a large scale. The talk in the start-up community right now goes like this: "If you're in it, how do you move offshore? And if you are not in it yet, do not build in Australia."' This is the sort of future that the Anthony Albanese government and their budget is presenting Australia.