The Liberal Party will need to be its “most bold, confident” self going into the next election off the back of bruising polling that put it behind One Nation, Tim Wilson claims.
The shadow treasurer was grilled over the Coalition’s vision for Australia’s financial future, the party’s polling and the One Nation threat at the National Press Club on Wednesday.
However, the party’s polling and the One Nation threat.
Asked about the next election, Mr Wilson said he did not “believe anything is predetermined”.
“I believe that going to the next election, we need to be – again, I’ll go back and I’ve said this many times before – the most bold, confident Liberals with the clearest vision about where we want to take the country and, more importantly, to clarify for Australians not just what we are fighting for but who we are fighting for,” he said.
“I have outlined today very clearly that we are here to back the self-starters of this country to get ahead.”
Unlike Nationals Leader Matt Canavan, Mr Wilson said he was not calling for an election on Anthony Albanese’s backflip on changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing.
“The Prime Minister has utterly betrayed the Australian community,” he said.
“The policies he took to the last election are not the ones he is seeking to implement now.
“If he had any guts or courage, he would do so. But, he won’t.
“The question is the fate of the Treasurer because he has now become the albatross that’s hanging around the Prime Minister’s neck.”
The Coalition achieved only 20 per cent of the primary vote in a Newspoll released at the weekend.
Labor recorded 31 per cent, while One Nation had 27 per cent.
Stand for Small
A dedicated Small Business Act will seek to provide a single definition for a small business under law and guarantee owner operators are listened to in the writing of new laws under a Coalition government, Mr Wilson revealed earlier.
He wants to bring the Liberal Party back to basics by announcing a Stand with Small campaign.
Mr Wilson told the nation’s business and political elite a future Coalition government would consult on the Act, which would provide a single definition in all commonwealth law for what defines a small business.
Consultation would also take place on a “right to be paid”, which Mr Wilson said would set legal maximum payment terms to small business from government and big business.
The Act would also seek to ensure “each new law should require a small business regulatory impact statement”, a pathway for feedback, and a space for small businesses to be heard, including by the Reserve Bank, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australian Taxation Office, and Fair Work Commission.
It would also introduce new and expanded requirements for government procurement that “must come from small business”.
Mr Wilson accused the government of having “declared war on the self-starters and small businesses” of Australia. It comes amid criticism from parts of the small business sector about capital gains tax discount changes.
“We are going to fight for them,” he said.
“For too long Australia’s laws have been designed around the influence of those that can hire lobbyists to walk the Prime Minister’s corridor.
“In generations past, young Australians got ahead by buying property. Young Australians know that to get ahead you need to invest, and build a small business, side hustle, equity or start-up.”
Mr Wilson said, in conversations over the past year, he had reached the conclusion that “we have an economy designed for the 20th century, and I am no longer convinced tinkering at the margins will fix it”.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor announced in his budget reply speech plans to introduce an instant $50,000 asset write off for business with an annual turnover of less than $1m. He would also peg the two lowest tax brackets to inflation to address budget creep.
Speaking before Mr Wilson’s speech, Mr Taylor said the Albanese government “did not like small business”, and sought to replace them with “big government”.
“What they’re planning to do now is going to do exactly that, replace small business with big government,” he said.
“Only this government could be so arrogant and so could so badly misunderstand this country as to think that that’s a good idea.”
CGT carve out must extend to farmers: Canavan
And while the Coalition has firmly opposed Labor’s tax changes, Nationals leader Matt Canavan told the Rural Press Club farmers should be included in the consultation process, alongside tech start-ups for a potential carve out.
Last week, Mr Chalmers pledged the Albanese government would engage in consultations to get the tax settings right after intense backlash from the start-up and small business sector.
But Senator Canavan argued in his speech on Wednesday this offer should extend to businesses in the agricultural sector too.
He described the capital gains tax changes as “a handbrake on anyone who wants to grow a business and … a handbrake on our economy, productivity and growth”.
“This is especially true for our farmers who take high risk, suffer low annual returns
but can keep going through a drought knowing that their land value will probably
increase whatever the weather forecast is,” he said.
“The government has said that it would consult with the tech and start-up industries
given their unique characteristics,” Senator Canavan said.
“Well, farmers face some pretty unique challenges too, and in terms of the impact of the government’s capital gains tax broken promise, the impact on farmers would be very similar to the start-up industry.”
