STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr PASIN (Barker) (13:51): Small businesses are the beating heart of my electorate of Barker. These are the people who start early, finish late and carry communities on their shoulders. The role of government, of course, should be to create conditions that allow businesses like this around our great nation to prosper.

They need less red tape, lower taxes and lower energy costs. They don't need a handout; they just want a government that understands the best thing it can do is get out of the way. But what has this Labor government given small business?

It's given them higher taxes, higher power bills and now a botched credit card surcharge ban. Labor promised power bills would fall by $275. Instead, every new power bill comes with its risks to small business.

Then, this month, Labor's surcharge ban landed. The Prime Minister tried to convince Australians that their coffees would be cheaper by banning the card surcharge. The problem is that the fee hasn't gone away, and the price of a coffee has gone up because cafe owners have to cover the costs of those fees.

While already uncertain of their future, this cost shift is just another nail in the coffin of small business. Let's be clear. When a regional small business closes its doors, it's not just the shop that goes dark.

It's a job lost, a sponsor gone from the footy club and a vacant shop on the street. For small regional towns, that could mean the beginning of the end. Labor should be backing small business, not breaking it.