STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS
Economy
Mr BATT (Hinkler—Deputy Nationals Whip) (13:45):
Last week in my electorate of Hinkler, I launched my small business survey. Every single response that I’ve received so far confirms that this Labor government is making it harder to do business. Every single submission confirms that small businesses are under pressure. One of the questions on the survey is, ‘Do Hinkler small businesses feel confident about their future?’ One hundred per cent of responses say ‘no’—they’re not confident. A local engineering and manufacturing business says:
We will be shutting up shop if there is no change, after nearly 30 years of servicing this community. It is very disappointing it has come to this.
In Queensland, the month of May is Small Business Month, celebrating the role small and family businesses play in building our regional economy and communities. But this government is not interested in making it better. Instead, Labor is committed to slugging small business. They changed their position on negative gearing and capital gains tax, simply hitting the hip pockets of family business. The Prime Minister committed that you’d be better off under Labor — power prices would drop by $275, there was a promise of cheaper mortgages, and there would be no changes to super.
But the exact opposite has happened. In each of the last two years, the economy has recorded its slowest growth outside a recession.
Australians don’t deserve a budget of broken promises and higher taxes, and small businesses in Hinkler don’t deserve a budget of broken promises and higher taxes either.