ADJOURNMENT

Ms CHANEY (Curtin) (16:31): I rise to speak about the pressures facing small businesses in Curtin. WA has almost 258,000 small businesses employing more than 541,000 people. Curtin is often described as an affluent electorate, and people tend to assume the businesses in our suburbs are doing well.

The owners I meet describe something quite different. Not long ago I sat down with hospitality owners in Curtin who run some of Perth's best-known venues. They feel caught in the middle.

Their costs are rising, including the wages they pay their staff, while their customers have less to spend and push back on higher prices. They told me rent and insurance had risen by 20 per cent in a year. For one venue, wage and super increases would add around $50,000 a year.

Changes to card surcharging would add another $25,000 because banks can still charge businesses fees they can no longer pass on to customers. WA's payroll tax threshold hasn't kept pace with rising wages, so businesses are effectively penalised for growing and paying their staff well. Rent, insurance, wages, super, surcharges, payroll tax—each change might be manageable on its own, but no-one seems to look at how they all add up.

Their experience is shared across the country. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 2026 Small Business Conditions Survey, released this week, found that 63 per cent of owners see rising costs as their biggest challenge. Owners are absorbing much of that pressure themselves.

Nearly four in 10 paid themselves less than $40,000 last year—well below the minimum wage—or nothing at all. For women, it was almost half. A busy cafe at Claremont or Subiaco can look successful from the street, while its owner earns less than staff.

It's no surprise that a third of owners considered closing their business in the past year. Even among profitable businesses, nearly one in five are considering closing, because the profit means little if the owner is barely paid for their time, risk and stress. And on this last point, almost half of owners rate their stress at seven or more out of 10, driven mostly by uncertainty and cashflow.

One told the survey, 'I'm tired, and I cannot do this anymore.' To stay open, many are cutting back on the things that protect them, reducing their insurance cover and spending less on tools and equipment. The Curtin businesses also told me they no longer trust the government to be on their side. During COVID, they felt the government had their backs.

Now, they told me, every year means tightening their belts. When we discussed reforms announced in this year's budget designed to support small business, one owner said that if any of these changes actually benefited him he would eat his shoe. That's what an erosion of trust looks like.

One venue's head chef had dreamt of opening her own restaurant. After watching her employers struggle, she's given up on the idea. Owners look at large companies and see a tax system that treats them far more generously.

More than a quarter of Australia's large companies paid no income tax in 2023-24, and in mining and energy it was nearly 40 per cent. Late payment by big customers makes things harder still, which was why I seconded the member for Wentworth's bill to link Commonwealth contracts to paying small suppliers on time. Small businesses provide vital local services, offer local jobs and bring life to our streets.

If we want to keep them and see them grow, the government should do four things. First, before any new obligation is introduced, assess its combined impact on a business with a handful of staff and consult the people who'll have to comply. Second, keep policy settings stable, because uncertainty weighs so heavily on owners.

Third, consider the tax ideas Curtin owners put to me: a lower headline tax rate for small businesses, relief on alcohol tax and stronger taxation of large corporates, such as gas exporters, to even the playing field. Fourth, take a serious look at card surcharging so small businesses aren't left carrying costs they can't pass on. Despite the challenges I've described, ACCI's survey found that four in five owners would still rather run their own business than do any other kind of work.

As one Curtin owner told me, they just want it to be a little bit easier to keep doing what they love.