ADJOURNMENT
Mr WILLCOX (Dawson) (19:40): Well, it's obvious to everybody the wheels have fallen off the Albanese Labor government's car. As a matter of fact, it's worse than that. Their axle is broken.
They've lost the faith of the business community. They've lost the faith of the average Australian. They have certainly lost the faith of every single person that has a look at what they do.
But, in welcome news, I'm pleased that they've performed a few backflips. I think that's a good thing. They haven't— Mr WILLCOX: backflipped out of the car, but I'll take the interjection.
They've scrapped the cap on veterans' allied health, one of the most ridiculous policies that I've ever seen. The Albanese Labor government wanted to cap the veterans' allied health at $5,000. These fine men and women, these veterans, put the uniform on.
They signed up their blood, sweat and tears for this great country. And then, all of a sudden, the Albanese Labor government wanted to cap their services at $5,000. That is ridiculous.
I'm pleased those opposite succumbed to pressure from the opposition and got rid of the cap. At the end of last week they decided to scrap the disaster funding arrangement. That arrangement has always been 75 per cent 25 per cent.
Then the Albanese Labor government wanted to make it fifty-fifty. But after pressure from the local governments, state governments and the federal opposition at the end of last week they said, 'No, we won't do that. We'll honour the 75-25 arrangement.' But there's more to do.
I want to see the government have a really good look at the reductions they've done to the working holiday maker visas. Now, in my electorate of Dawson, we rely on the working holiday makers. We rely on them in the agricultural sector, in the tourism sector and the hospitality sector because they fill the gaps.
They come and pick the fruit when the farmers have flushes and there are no local people to do the job. They make coffees and pour beers in school holidays and in peak times down in places like the Whitsundays. They make beds.
They serve in the hospitality industry. They go out on the boats for marine tourism and provide crew. If you listen to the working holiday maker, when they're not actually working, they're holidaying and they're spending that money back in Australia.
The drastic reductions the Albanese Labor government want to make to the working holiday makers needs to be turned around, and I hope that we'll see that coming very soon. Then there's the assault on small business. I don't know what those opposite have got against small business.
Small businesses are doing it tough. Their mortgages have gone through the roof. Electricity prices have gone through the roof.
Thanks to those opposite, their compliance costs, their red and green tape, are being increased every single day. And now there's a credit card surcharge. That is another cost.
If we're going to stop the credit card surcharge, stop it at the bank level. Don't make small businesses pay that extra money. A travel agent in my electorate has contacted me.
She's from Wulguru in Townsville. She said, 'Andrew, what you've got to realise with travel is that people book a long way in advance. So if they're going on a cruise or an overseas holiday, they book a long way in advance, and we price that.' But what happens now that surcharge has come in?
They can't change their pricing. This is something that the travel agent has got to wear. I've been contacted by an auto electrician, a small auto electrical business, in my hometown of Bowen.
It's a family business, and they're saying that these credit card surcharges are really going to hurt them. But the ATO came out and said, 'Well, we're not going to accept credit cards.' They are one of the biggest organisations in the country, and they're not going to accept it. So the Treasurer stepped in and said, 'No, we'll make that go a little bit longer.' So I'm calling on the Treasurer to do the same thing for small business.
If it's good enough for one of the biggest organisations in the country to be changed, why not look after small business? I'm sick and tired of seeing the Albanese Labor government assaulting small business. They should be providing all the support for small business they possibly can.