PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr WALLACE (Fisher) (11:18): Let me make one thing very, very clear from the outset: the coalition supports stronger consumer protections, fair competition and holding businesses accountable when they do the wrong thing. Australians deserve to know what they are paying for, to be treated fairly and to have confidence that businesses are in fact doing the right thing.

But what Australians don't deserve is a Labor government that uses consumer protection as an excuse to bury small businesses in another mountain of red tape. That's exactly what this government has done. Labor had an opportunity to deliver sensible consumer reforms, with bipartisan support, but instead chose to impose more than $120 million a year in additional regulatory costs on Australian businesses.

Treasury's own estimates put the annual regulatory cost of Labor's unfair trading reforms at $123.2 million. Of that, approximately $103.6 million falls on small businesses. That's more than 1.5 million small businesses expected to be affected by the new general prohibition alone.

These aren't multinational corporations with enormous legal departments and compliance teams. They're family businesses, sole traders, local retailers, cafes, tradies and service providers, including thousands right across my electorate of Fisher. They're already dealing with higher electricity bills, rising insurance premiums, increasing rents and Labor's ever-growing compliance requirements.

Now Labor wants them to spend even more time and money navigating complicated new laws. And for what? The government has quantified the costs but hasn't quantified the benefits.

The coalition put forward practical amendments that would have strengthened the legislation while protecting small businesses from unnecessary costs. We proposed inserting the word 'unfairly' before 'manipulate', and 'material' before 'detriment', providing greater legal certainty about what conduct would actually be prohibited. These changes were consistent with concerns raised by the Law Society about the need for greater certainty.

We also proposed delaying commencement until July 2030 for businesses with an annual turnover below $10 million. That would have given small businesses time to prepare, understand their obligations and adjust to the new requirements. These were reasonable, sensible amendments that would not have undermined consumer protections.

But, of course, Labor rejected them, and it failed to provide a convincing justification for why small businesses should be denied those protections. When Australians raise concerns about subscription traps, hidden fees and unfair online practices, they're overwhelmingly concerned about the conduct of large businesses and major online platforms, and rightly so.

Nobody should sign up for a subscription and find it almost impossible to cancel. We've all been there. The coalition supports targeted action against these kinds of practices, but Labor's response has been to introduce a broad prohibition that leaves ordinary businesses wondering whether everyday commercial decisions could breach the law.

The big corporations can afford the lawyers to work it out. Small businesses simply cannot. And this doesn't happen in isolation.

Labor is already making life harder for small businesses through increasingly complex tax arrangements and the implementation of payday super—and its handling of credit card surcharging. We all know what's happened in the last couple of days. Labor members have been consistently out there saying: 'Nothing to do with us.

We can't impact the outcome.' And then, all of a sudden, yesterday it's all fixed or at least temporarily, for 12 months. Every additional compliance obligation means more paperwork, more administrative costs and less time spent serving customers, employing Australians and growing a business. Who ultimately pays?

It's the business owners, their employees and, of course, ultimately their customers. On the Sunshine Coast, our small businesses are the backbone of our local economy. They deserve a government that backs their ambition, rewards their effort and makes it easier to succeed.

Instead, under Labor, they're treated as an afterthought. The coalition supports protecting consumers and strengthening competition, but good consumer protection and a strong small-business sector should go hand in hand.