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It is terrific to be home and have the opportunity to give you an overview of the Budget, which includes the Australian Government Small Business Statement, reaffirming our commitment to delivering a better deal for small businesses.
Over the past 2 years as the Small Business Minister, I have met and listened to many small business owners who have told me about the opportunities and challenges they face.
And I have convened meetings with state and territory Small Business Ministers to ensure we continue sharing information about conditions on the ground and the support you need.
It’s this consultation and feedback that has helped to inform the more than $640 million in targeted support in last week’s Budget for Australia’s small businesses.
These measures are designed to help small businesses by:
- easing pressure
- supporting growth, and
- levelling the playing field.
I would like to start by outlining measures designed to ease pressure on small businesses, including by driving down inflation to ease cost pressures on businesses.
We are relieving energy bill pressures by providing support through the Energy Bill Relief Fund.
From 1 July, around 35,000 small businesses in Tasmania will receive a rebate of $325 on electricity bills throughout the year.
And around 260,000 Tasmanian households will get a total rebate of $300.
Electricity prices increased around 3 per cent since mid‑2023, but without our energy plan it would have been more than 18 per cent.
We’re delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer from 1 July this year, and this will include sole traders – rewarding hard work and putting more money back in Australians’ pockets.
Around 90 per cent of taxpayers will receive a bigger tax cut under our plan.
We understand that current economic conditions are particularly impacting some small business owners.
Many face unique challenges, with their mental health connected to the financial health of their small business.
That’s why we are delivering $10.8 million in tailored, free and confidential financial and mental wellbeing supports.
This includes extending funding for the Small Business Debt Helpline and the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program.
Our government knows how important cash flow and prompt payment times are to small businesses.
For small businesses who supply goods and services to large companies, it’s simply unfair for those big corporations to delay paying the invoice.
I will shortly be introducing legislation into Parliament to overhaul the Payment Times Reporting Act to increase pressure on big businesses to pay small businesses on time, including through the ability to name and shame slow‑paying big businesses.
The Budget includes a further $25.3 million, on top of $8.1 million funded previously in the 2023–24 MYEFO, to ensure the Payment Times Reporting Regulator can ensure compliance with the new scheme, and fund fit‑for‑purpose ICT infrastructure.
And as you may already know, the Budget extends the $20,000 instant asset write‑off for 12 months, until 30 June 2025, providing $290 million in cash flow support.
Legislation to implement the $20,000 instant asset write‑off in this financial year is currently in the Parliament and we are urging the Opposition to pass it as soon as possible to provide certainty to small businesses.
To improve cash flow, disrupt payment redirection scams and boost productivity, the Budget provides $23.3 million to continue supporting small businesses to adopt eInvoicing.
We are also reducing administrative burdens by abolishing 457 nuisance tariffs on goods such as toothbrushes, fridges, clothing and sanitary products – streamlining $8.5 billion in annual trade.
This will simplify our trade system and cut compliance costs.
Another issue small businesses regularly raise with me is wanting to make sure their business is safe online, with a cyber attack possibly costing a small business tens of thousands of dollars.
We are committed to supporting small businesses to be secure online while they adopt and harness digital opportunities, including through our government’s support through the:
- Cyber Resilience Service
- Cyber Health Check, and
- Cyber Wardens Program.
The Small Business Cyber Resilience Service will be a one‑stop shop for small businesses.
It will provide person‑to‑person support to help businesses build their cyber resilience and recover in the event of an attack.
The Cyber Health Check will be an online interactive tool that businesses can use to self‑assess their cyber security maturity and receive guidance on how to strengthen it.
We expect the Cyber Resilience Service and Cyber Health Check to be up and running by the end the year.
And small businesses can already access free online cyber security training under the Cyber Wardens Program which I know is already making a real difference.
I would now like to outline some of the practical measures designed to help grow your business and give you a fair go.
We want small businesses to be in the running for Australian Government contracts, which are worth about $75 billion a year.
So we updated the Commonwealth Procurement Rules to ensure you get a bigger slice, with a 20 per cent target for small businesses.
We also want small businesses to help build – and benefit from – a Future Made in Australia.
Through investments in manufacturing, clean energy and a workforce trained in new technologies.
We want to make Australia an indispensable part of global net zero supply chains.
Making contributions to supply chains will be a feature of government investment under the Future Made in Australia initiative to bolster economic activity.
This builds on existing investments to support small businesses to innovate, including:
- $392.4 million through the Industry Growth Program to help start‑ups and small businesses through their challenging development phase to innovate, commercialise ideas, and grow.
- $18.6 million for Round 2 of the Digital Solutions program to help small businesses adopt digital tools and embrace the opportunities that going online offers.
I know that skills shortages inhibit business growth.
Tasmania, like the mainland, has a critical skills and labour shortage.
The government is taking action to address this.
The new National Skills Agreement will continue to expand access to the vocational education and training sector, support quality training and implement reforms to address critical skills needs.
We are investing $88.8 million to deliver 20,000 new fee‑free TAFE places including pre‑apprenticeships in courses relevant to the construction sector.
There are already approximately 97,000 VET students and 10,400 apprentices in Tasmania.
The Budget also supports small and medium businesses to access Group Training Organisation services for apprentices in:
- clean energy
- manufacturing, and
- construction.
The government will reimburse Group Training Organisation fees for up to 800 small and medium businesses.
We also need more tradies to build new homes.
So we are funding 20,000 Fee‑Free TAFE and pre‑apprenticeship places. And we are also streamlining the skills‑assessment process for around 1,900 migrants from comparable countries to work in our housing construction industry.
This is part of the $6.2 billion in new investment outlined in the Budget, which brings the total amount committed to the Homes for Australia plan to $32 billion.
Small businesses in Tasmania are set to benefit from this new investment, which includes a $1 billion boost for the states to build the roads, sewers, energy, water and community infrastructure that we need for new homes, and additional social housing.
The government will provide additional concessional financing of up to $1.9 billion to support the delivery of new social and affordable homes under the Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord. This includes a minimum of 1,200 new homes in Tasmania over the next 5 years.
We are also funding new and existing transport infrastructure projects in Tasmania, bringing total investment to $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.
Our Labor government Budget also helps level the playing field for small business operators.
I have heard about challenges in the franchising sector, particularly relating to imbalances of power between franchisors and franchisees.
This is why our response aims to improve partnerships in the sector.
There will be $3 million to implement the government’s response to the Review of the Franchising Code of Conduct, including remaking and enhancing the Code to help make franchising fairer.
I know some small business operators need help resolving disputes.
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) assists and advocates for small businesses, including helping to resolve disputes.
This Budget expands the ASBFEO’s service offering.
This will enable a broader range of unrepresented small businesses access to low‑cost legal advice and assistance to navigate business disputes.
As we know, competition and consumer policy has been front and centre in the public debate over recent months.
We have been reviewing and reforming Australia’s competition policy settings to increase productivity, reduce the cost of living and boost wages.
The new ‘designated complaints’ function at the ACCC will empower designated consumer and small business organisations to raise complaints about systemic market issues with the ACCC.
Applications are open until this Friday for interested consumer and small business advocates to apply to become a designated complainant.
We have strengthened protections for small businesses against unfair contract terms by making them illegal.
The government also consulted on options to address unfair trading practices under the Australian Consumer Law and we are now considering next steps.
I know everyone here today wants a positive, strong and sustainable future for small business.
That’s what the Albanese Labor government wants too.
Which is why we put small business at the heart of the Budget’s decision‑making process.
And why we included practical improvements and targeted support to ease pressure, level the playing field and support growth.
Thank you.