Zali Steggall
In respect of this bill, there is a particular schedule that I want to focus on, and that is schedule 7. Schedule 7 extends the 20,000 instant asset write-off for small businesses to June 2026. What we are seeing, again, is this eking out, this drip feeding to small business the support they so desperately need year to year to year, rather than finally making this permanent. Rather than giving small business some certainty so that they can manage their cash flow and their commitments knowing that something has been legislated, what we've seen, during the last term of government and this term, is this constant uncertainty. I support the member for Mackellar's call in how we can help small business by having a 20 per cent tax-free threshold for small business and to make the instant asset write-off permanent, and I will come to that in a moment.
The instant asset write-off extension is welcome, but, again, it is too low and the government needs to provide certainty by ensuring that it be permanent. I will be introducing an amendment during consideration in detail, before the third reading, to make it permanent. I'd also like it extended to a level that actually reflects the needs of small businesses, that makes it meaningful in assisting them with their investment within their small businesses and their assets. We need to also ensure we are incentivising small businesses to become more effective and efficient, to reduce waste. Requiring energy efficiency and waste reduction in small business is an important part of this puzzle.
We know small businesses are the lifeblood of so many communities, and Warringah is the same. Recently, I've had the pleasure of meeting with local small businesses across Manly to discuss the staffing and other regulatory changes they are facing. Our local businesses are facing the perfect storm, grappling with higher costs, tight margins and slowing consumer demand alongside an inability to find workers to fill key roles. Whether it's a chef, waitress, landscaper, childcare worker or bus driver, across so many industries, businesses are struggling. The growing shortage of skilled workers is hurting our local businesses' ability to grow and serve the community. This is not just being felt in Warringah. It's being felt all across Australia but more acutely in regional communities, where small businesses drive local economies and the pool of available labour is even smaller. So you would think that they would come in this place or before the media and champion support for more skilled immigration and more workers to come in and support small businesses, but no. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
What small businesses have raised with me are concerns around the complexity and cost of the current visa process, the complexity of the tax systems for small businesses and the burden of successive legislation that's been passed by the Albanese government. Our skilled worker visas can take up to eight months to process, which is far too long for a small business trying to meet immediate demand and fill a role. Local operators have shared their concerns as well, with the GST threshold remaining at $75,000 for small businesses since 2007 without indexation, which has added extra burden as costs continues to rise. That compliance cost is something that continually small businesses raise. So, whilst this amendment to try and make this instant asset write-off again for one year is good, the government seems to be completely deaf to the concerns small businesses have and their continued challenge when it comes to meeting the administrative burden but also the additional cost.
We want to have a strong, ambitious and productive economy. We've heard a lot from the government and the Treasurer about that, but we're not hearing a lot about how to help small businesses achieve that. We need companies to be able to invest and innovate—companies of all sizes—but too often the ear of government is only for big business. They have that scale and ability to deal that small and medium businesses do not. So it was disappointing there wasn't a bigger focus in the Treasurer's productivity roundtable on how we're going to support small and medium businesses to innovate and invest.
I would say, respectfully, that the instant asset write-off levelled at $20,000 is just not going do it. It doesn't cut it. All that does is allow for the write-off of a small investment in an asset for a small business. It doesn't really allow a business to invest in better technology, significant sustainability or waste management, or innovation within a business. So what we need is that certainty and an instant asset write-off that is scalable to the challenge and costs that small businesses are incurring. If we want a strong, ambitious and productive economy where companies and small businesses are encouraged to invest and innovate, then we need to provide certainty, fairness and a regulatory framework that assists us, not shifting goalposts.
Anne Aly
I rise in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Bill 2025. Whilst I support the bill in its entirety, it would be natural for me to focus on a part that is particularly important to my portfolio of small business, which is schedule 7. Schedule 7 extends the $20,000 instant asset write-off until 30 June 2026 for eligible businesses. What this measure does is make a real difference to 2.6 million small businesses in Australia. That includes 1.5 million small businesses that are sole traders and who are also benefitting and have also benefitted from our government's tax cuts.
As everyone in here knows—because I hear it head said often enough that people support small business in this House—small business owners are out there every day, and they're working hard. They're working hard to fulfil their dreams. They are your Indian grocer. They are the place you go to to get your eyebrows threaded. They are where you get your Vietnamese pancakes. They are the translators and interpreters who operate with an ABN. They fix your cars. They cut your hair. They cater your birthday parties. They resole your shoes. They help you with your tax returns.
An example of a small business is My Aunt's Handmade Noodles, which I visited the other day with the member for Reid and the local mayor in her electorate. This is a family owned business, run by a formidable mother and daughter duo, and they craft these handmade noodles using time honoured techniques. The passion and care that My Aunt's Handmade Noodles brings to each and every bowl of these perfectly chewy and flavoured noodles is a level of dedication that I see in the small businesses that I visit and that I meet with right across the country.
The Albanese government is backing small businesses just like My Aunt's Handmade Noodles to ensure that they have the support that they need to thrive, because we know that not only are they building a better life for themselves and for their families, but they are also building a better future for Australia. They employ locals. They train apprentices. They give young people jobs, and they keep regional communities alive. They sponsor local sports clubs, and they donate to school raffles as well. They are not just the engine room of the economy, as is often said; they are also often the beating hearts of communities. That's why our government developed Australia's very first National Small Business Strategy.
You would think that an intimate understanding of small business would necessitate a strategy that brings together all levels of government to look at how we can collectively support small businesses to grow and to thrive. You would think that this is something that would have been done a very long time ago, but, in fact, this was done by this government, the very first National Small Business Strategy, bringing together different levels of government and focusing on three key areas: levelling the playing field for small businesses, easing the pressure on small businesses and supporting small businesses to grow.
The extension of the instant asset write-off is a really key part of our commitment under this national strategy. What it means is that small businesses with an aggregate annual turnover of less than $10 million will continue to be able to immediately deduct eligible assets costing less than $20,000. That's $20,000 per asset, not just once but right across the business. Let's have a look at what that means. What that means is that restaurants, cafes, grocers, hairdressers, tradies, accountants and small retailers can actually start to buy the equipment that they need today to keep their businesses going, today and into tomorrow. No matter where I go, when I speak to small businesses, the one thing that constantly comes up is how important the instant asset write-off is in helping them grow and modernise and the extension of the instant asset write-off, giving these businesses the confidence to plan, to budget and to invest as well.
For small businesses looking to grow, the instant asset write-off frees up cash flow so that they can purchase new equipment that allows them to expand their operations or open new locations. At a recent roundtable that I attended in the member for Swan's electorate, in Belmont, a group of small businesses there told me that managing cash flow was one of their biggest daily challenges. Really, that makes sense, doesn't it?
Andrew Giles
It does.
Long debate text truncated.
Summary
Date and time: 5:29 PM on 2025-10-08
Allegra Spender's vote: Abstained
Total number of "aye" votes: 8
Total number of "no" votes: 79
Total number of abstentions: 63
Related bill: Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Bill 2025
Adapted from information made available by theyvoteforyou.org.au