PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (11:34): I often talk about the fact that, if you stood at my electorate office in Sunnybank and threw a rock as far as you possibly could and then drew a circle from it, what you'd find are scores and scores of small businesses. Some of them are in retail, some of them are in hospitality and some of them are in manufacturing. What those small businesses do every day is not only support our local communities but help drive our economy.
Today, I want to talk a little bit about not only what this government is doing for small businesses but also what we are doing—looking at the motion that the member for Banks has put forward—to support the consumers who shop there. I don't think you can ignore the fact that there is an inextricable intertwining of small businesses and their customers. When their customers are doing well, we know that small businesses do well also.
This government has put $3.8 billion into making sure we've got lower taxes for small businesses. They see it in the form of the $20,000 instant asset write-off being made permanent, they see it in the form of the loss carryback and they see it in the form of the productivity package of $10.2 billion a year that we saw handed down in this most recent budget, cutting regulatory costs and red tape.
As productivity has been a challenge in this country for the past two decades, we have chosen to do something about it, to put in place the biggest, broadest productivity package that this country has seen in 20 years. On top of that, we've seen recently the reduction in the interchange fee cap, and the flow through to merchant fees for small business from banks is already starting to see results, reducing prices for many, many small businesses.
When it comes to everyday Australians—and I heard it at a barbecue over the weekend—people are concerned about how much they are paying when they get to the checkout. It is tough and rough out there. I heard it when I had a conversation with a young bloke who was booking his very first overseas holiday by himself.
He talked about the fact that, when he clicked on the price, he thought it would be great. But when he got to the final checkout, and they added in the booking fee and added in a different fee and added in another one, it became predatory, and it became problematic for him to afford. I see it when I drop my daughter off at her swimming lesson, at Dunlop Park in Corinda, and I buy a cheeky Killer Python—and those things are not as big as they used to be when I was going to swimming lessons.
Listening to these stories is important. Understanding those big challenges that Australians face, particularly in a challenging global economic environment, is important. But right now Australians need more than that listening; they need someone who's on their side.
They need someone who is taking practical action—not just talking about it, not just spitting rhetoric, but undertaking the things that will make a difference in their lives. That's what this government is doing. Price gouging needed to go, and the Albanese Labor government made it illegal on 1 July 2026, on top of the mandatory Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, strengthening that unit pricing code and cracking down on the shrinkflation we see in so many of our classic Australian treats and sweets.
On top of that is banning unfair trading practices that manipulate consumer choice and drawing a clear line against practices that game consumers and undermine fair competition—competition that we know drives quality and drives price. And we have launched the Supporting Fresh Produce Suppliers—Food and Grocery Code Education Program. But it's not only that; it's increasing funding by more than $100 million to the ACCC to make sure there is accountability, to make sure we are cracking down where people are taking it out on everyday Australians.
Funding choice to provide quarterly monitoring reports and taking action on subscriptions and drip pricing—this is real action and this is Labor.