QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:34): First, I did see belatedly the Treasurer's interview, and I think it was an extremely good interview outlining the principles behind the tax changes where also changes will need to be made, and— Senator O'Sullivan interjecting— Senator WONG: You don't like it?

We don't mind saying nice things about colleagues, you see. Senator Watt: You should try it sometime. Senator WONG: I know—that's unusual on that side!

Senator, I would make the point that, in terms of small business, in fact a number of aspects of the package that the government both has passed and is putting in place will benefit small business. The most important of those are making the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent and introducing a permanent two-year loss carryback—also, introducing loss refundability to help startups in their first years and increasing the turnover threshold for the existing 50 per cent active asset reduction capital gains tax concession from $2 million to $10 million.

You might recall that I last week talked about the fact that that meant that all existing 2.7 million active small businesses and 98 per cent of active businesses would be eligible for concessional treatment. Those are the parameters that the government has put in place—tax relief for many in small business. The question you asked was asking for tax advice for specifics; obviously, people make their own decisions about how they organise their tax affairs.

The PRESIDENT: Senator Nampijinpa Price, first supplementary?