Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (19:35):

In my job I've been lucky to spend a lot of time travelling all around my electorate. One of the best parts of travelling around the Hunter is being able to see so many small businesses. The Hunter is packed with great small businesses providing the best goods and services that you can find. Whether you're looking for wine, meat, fruit, veg or maybe even a delicious burger, or whether you want a haircut or some beauty treatments, you can find it all in the Hunter. These are only a few examples of the many kinds of small businesses in my electorate. Not only do they provide amazing food and produce and help you with whatever service you may need; they are also the heart of our communities. They're often run by locals, for locals. They serve our community, but they are a part of our community.

This isn't just the case in the Hunter; this is the case throughout Australia. Across the country, there are 2.5 million small businesses, which make up 97.5 per cent of all businesses. These small businesses help over 5.2 million people put food on their table and contribute more than $500 billion to the nation's economy each year. But, sadly, times have been tough for our small businesses in recent years. They've had to deal with COVID-19 and the challenges that came with that. Then, when the country began to reopen and business began to find their feet again, they had to face challenges like interest rate rises, inflation and lower levels of consumer spending. But, if anything, these past few years just go to show how resilient our small businesses and their owners are.

We want to support our small businesses in any way that we can, and we have already introduced a number of measures which are aiming to do exactly that. Something that is hurting all Australians right now but making life especially hard for small businesses is the price of electricity bills. We have made energy relief for small business a priority so that they can continue to operate their businesses without the added pressure of the price of electricity. We are taking action to limit the worst of the energy price spikes, by delivering up to $3 billion in direct energy bill relief through the Energy Bill Relief Fund. There are already many businesses which have benefited from this, with energy bill relief of up to $650 flowing since July to around one million small businesses. This has meant that retail electricity prices are around 25 percentage points less than we expected before our intervention. We have also invested $310 million in the Small Business Energy Incentive, which is a bonus 20 per cent tax deduction for small businesses investing in energy efficiency and storage. Six hundred ninety small businesses have already benefited from these grants and are now saving on their electricity bills.

That's not all the help we are providing to small businesses. We are also providing a $20,000 instant asset write-off for assets first used or installed ready to use between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. We are helping to reduce the time small businesses spend doing their taxes. We will do this through a range of measures, including enhancing the National Tax Clinic program by funding an additional five tax clinics, allowing employers to make Single Touch Payroll engagement authorities to their tax agents for extended periods, trialling an expansion of the ATO independent review process to small and medium businesses being audited by the ATO and allowing small and medium businesses up to four years to make self-amendments to their income tax assessments.

We are a government who represent the people of Australia, not our own interests. The things that are important to Australians are the things that are important to us. Small businesses are important to all Australians. They are the heart of all of our communities. We will always stand up for small businesses, because, if our small businesses are doing it tough, then so are our communities and so is our country as a whole. So get out and enjoy discovering the hidden culinary treasures tucked away in the nooks and crannies of our neighbourhoods, from the secret sauce of the burger shop down the street to the heavenly aroma wafting from the corner bakery. Every bite tells a story, and every dollar spent is a vote of confidence for our small local businesses. Make sure you're getting in there and enjoying them. I know I love the small businesses of the Hunter. I clearly enjoy them too much, especially the food ones, as we can tell, but the wine, the beer, the gin, the distilleries, all of the great food—

Mr McCormack: The thoroughbreds!

Mr REPACHOLI: The thoroughbreds, yes. The thoroughbreds are great. We have a big passion for thoroughbreds in the Hunter. We spend a lot of time losing money on them. Some even win. I know that I don't win much. Make sure you get out there and support every small business you can.