QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:15): First, I again go back to the point I made, which is that we actually have more active small businesses today than we had when we were elected. I know that is an inconvenient fact for you, Senator Hume, but those are the facts. There is no doubt that we want to continue to focus on how it is that we can ensure that this important part of the economy continues to be able to operate and to thrive.

You would have seen some of the measures that we have taken that I've outlined. We've also provided targeted relief in the context of the fuel supply crisis and access to mandatory standards to assess the impact of regulations on small business, so there is work being done in the context of an economy which we acknowledge is facing some challenges but primarily as a consequence of the war in the— (Time expired)