Page 982 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 2012
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Anybody in small business, especially in family businesses, understands the concept of risk better than anybody else. They understand the confidence they need to have in their product, in their service, in their staff, in their suppliers, in their banks, in their property, in their regulators, in their government and in their customers. This is real risk. They understand the weight on their shoulders of having a cash flow and having payday approaching. They understand that they are often in the hands of the risk profile assigned to them by their bank and they understand that government decisions can make or break their businesses with the signing of legislation or regulation.
In Canberra, we constantly talk about the need to diversify our economy to get away from our dependence on the commonwealth public service as our main source of employment. Some people think that there will be a silver bullet in the form of a particular business or industry which will solve all our problems, perceived or actual. However, in reality, our responsibility as members of this place is to ensure that our overall business conditions, which we legislate and govern for, are ones that are conducive to taking risks and creating wealth.
People in business, whether it be family business or otherwise, are not asking for people in this place to give them free kicks or to give them opportunities they otherwise would not be able to get on their own. What they are asking for is certainty and a return on the risks that they take on. When people in this place meddle in markets, when we make it too hard for people to trade, and when we do not acknowledge the risks and the rewards which businesses, especially family businesses, take on, problems start to occur.
I take my hat off to Family Business Australia. I take my hat off to all the people in my electorate of Ginninderra and across Canberra who have taken the plunge, who have created wealth. Wealth is not created by paying taxes. Wealth is created before one pays tax. To do that, people need to work hard and to make tough decisions. I thank all those in family business for doing so.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (10.56): I will address the amendments. The opposition will accept the amendments. I think there is a slight missing of the point. The point of the motion was that family businesses just are not small and medium businesses. So where we specify in some of the amendments that the government, for instance, supports small and medium businesses, we know that; we acknowledge that. But it is the particular issues that affect family business that made me raise this motion today.
I would hope that members do not think that when you are talking about small and medium businesses you are talking about family businesses, because you are not. They do start with the micros; they are home based; they are certainly small and medium businesses. But they are large and growing business, and big business and international business as well. That is really the point of the motion.
I note that the government’s amendments delete everything after (2)(a). I am not sure whether they just delete (2)(a), and (b) and (c) survive. I am surprised that we would delete (2), which says:
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