QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Dr ALY (Cowan—Minister for Small Business, Minister for International Development and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:41): I thank the member for Moncrieff for her question. We on this side of the House understand how important small businesses are for our economy and for our communities. Just last week, I was out in regional Queensland, in the member for Maranoa's seat, meeting with small businesses there.

I had a roundtable with small businesses at the local cafe there, speaking to them about the issues that matter to them. Shortly after, I went up to Darwin and met with small businesses in Darwin as well. Every time I meet with small businesses, I ask them about their challenges and their opportunities.

Now, there's no doubt that small businesses are doing it tough. The costs of doing business are getting higher, margins are getting thinner, and businesses are struggling through. But that's why this government, in the last budget, dedicated $3.8 billion to assist small businesses.

That's why this government has made permanent the $20,000 instant asset write-off, and businesses right across Australia have been using the instant asset write-off to ensure that they have cash flow, to ensure that— Dr ALY: As I was saying, it's all very well to talk about small businesses, to cosplay as small businesses, to make reels where you're pretending to be a small business, but actually going out and speaking to small businesses means that we have a government that acts in the interests of small businesses by making the instant asset write-off permanent, by making the two-year loss carry back permanent and by delivering assistance to small businesses where they need it most and when they need it most.

Importantly, every time I go and speak to small businesses, whether it's in the member for Maranoa's seat, whether it's in Darwin, whether it's in rural and regional Australia or whether it's in the cities, the thing that they ask for the most is access to workers. That's why we have free TAFE. That's why we have apprenticeship schemes to enable those businesses to access the workers that they need.

Now, the Prime Minister went through some numbers earlier. I think they warrant repeating, because those numbers mean something. Those numbers—the more than 600,000 new businesses that have started—show record numbers of new businesses starting since we came into government.

Those record numbers every day and every month demonstrate something. They demonstrate something beyond numbers. They demonstrate the initiative— Opposition members interjecting— Dr ALY: Yes, yes, and the hopes and dreams of Australians at.

Dr ALY: Anyone with even a cursory understanding of numbers will understand that the number of businesses opening compared to the number of businesses that are closing— (Time expired)