❓ Ms. Mettam questions the McGowan government's support for struggling small businesses facing challenges like weak demand and rising costs. The Minister responds by criticizing the previous Liberal government's land tax policies and defends the current government's approach.
AnsweredQoN 282Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SMALL BUSINESS —
STATISTICS
282. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Small Business:
I refer to the statistics from the
Small Business Development Corporation that highlight that at 30 June 2018, 792 small businesses employing up to 20 people
each, and 309 medium businesses employing up to 199 employees , did not
survive the financial year. What has the McGowan government done to help the
small businesses in this state who are struggling with weak consumer demand,
online competition and rising labour costs?
STATISTICS
282. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Small Business:
I refer to the statistics from the
Small Business Development Corporation that highlight that at 30 June 2018, 792 small businesses employing up to 20 people
each, and 309 medium businesses employing up to 199 employees , did not
survive the financial year. What has the McGowan government done to help the
small businesses in this state who are struggling with weak consumer demand,
online competition and rising labour costs?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for her question.
I have had experience in small business.
I do not ever claim that we were successful—I do not make the claims of
some members on the other side—but we survived. It is a tough gig when
someone strikes out on their own. I commend all small businesses across Western
Australia and those who have the courage to leave the security and shelter of
being employed by someone else, strike out on their own, take that risk, make
that contribution and hopefully build, succeed and grow the economy and employ
other people. That is a wonderful thing. However, the truth of the matter is
that one in three of them fail—that is just a fact. It is a sad thing
and a constant experience of small business. The beautiful thing about
Australians generally—not just Western Australians, but right across
the nation—is that they are entrepreneurial. They will have a crack at
anything, like the member for Jandakot. He came to this country as a migrant
and was and still is a successful small businessman. He created something from
nothing and employed people. That is what goes on all the time and we hope that
happens for all small businesses and all those who have the courage to strike
out.
I will tell the member what we will
not be doing. We will not be putting up land tax three times in a row. What
happens when land tax increases? I experienced this as a small business owner.
When land tax goes up, the biggest challenge for small business owners is
outgoings, which always go up. Landlords never absorb tax increases; they
always pass it on, and the person who gets hit at the end of the chain is
always the small business owner. The Liberal Party hurt small business more
than any other government in history during its time. It put up land taxes
three times in succession when it had more revenue per capita than any
government in the nation. It was embarrassing. It had more money coming in per
head yet it squandered it and chose to belt small businesses.
I would be embarrassed to talk about
small business if I were in the member's shoes. It is extraordinary
that she gets up in this place and talks about people employed by small
businesses, claiming that they should not be paid a reasonable wage, and then
comes in here and asks what we are going to do. We are not going to put up land
tax three times.
I have had experience in small business.
I do not ever claim that we were successful—I do not make the claims of
some members on the other side—but we survived. It is a tough gig when
someone strikes out on their own. I commend all small businesses across Western
Australia and those who have the courage to leave the security and shelter of
being employed by someone else, strike out on their own, take that risk, make
that contribution and hopefully build, succeed and grow the economy and employ
other people. That is a wonderful thing. However, the truth of the matter is
that one in three of them fail—that is just a fact. It is a sad thing
and a constant experience of small business. The beautiful thing about
Australians generally—not just Western Australians, but right across
the nation—is that they are entrepreneurial. They will have a crack at
anything, like the member for Jandakot. He came to this country as a migrant
and was and still is a successful small businessman. He created something from
nothing and employed people. That is what goes on all the time and we hope that
happens for all small businesses and all those who have the courage to strike
out.
I will tell the member what we will
not be doing. We will not be putting up land tax three times in a row. What
happens when land tax increases? I experienced this as a small business owner.
When land tax goes up, the biggest challenge for small business owners is
outgoings, which always go up. Landlords never absorb tax increases; they
always pass it on, and the person who gets hit at the end of the chain is
always the small business owner. The Liberal Party hurt small business more
than any other government in history during its time. It put up land taxes
three times in succession when it had more revenue per capita than any
government in the nation. It was embarrassing. It had more money coming in per
head yet it squandered it and chose to belt small businesses.
I would be embarrassed to talk about
small business if I were in the member's shoes. It is extraordinary
that she gets up in this place and talks about people employed by small
businesses, claiming that they should not be paid a reasonable wage, and then
comes in here and asks what we are going to do. We are not going to put up land
tax three times.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.