FORDE MP Bert van Manen has responded to claims made by Senator Murray Watt and Forde Labor candidate Des Hardman that the Federal government’s business tax cuts fail to support small business.
“How quickly Senator Watt and Mr Hardman forget the Turnbull Coalition government has already delivered tax cuts to small businesses which support more than 15,000 businesses in my electorate,” Mr van Manen said.
“Unlike Labor who wants to increase taxes, the government has delivered substantial reforms designed to put more money into people’s pockets.
“In small business tax cuts, energy, school funding, childcare and medicines, our government has delivered reforms which are supporting hardworking families and creating more than 1000 jobs every week.”
Mr van Manen said the press conference by Senator Watt and Mr Hardman showed just how out of touch they were with both electorate and government policy.
“How quickly Labor forgets the Coalition Government has delivered small business tax cuts to 3.2 million businesses nationwide which employ 6.7 million Australians,” Mr van Manen said.
“Our government also introduced the instant asset write-off to help small businesses invest in new equipment and machinery to grow their business, a measure which was taken up by 300,000 small businesses last year.
“If Mr Hardman is serious about representing Forde he should stop misleading the community.
“On Monday, I was joined by Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation Senator Zed Seselja to visit a number of local businesses and the feedback was tremendous.
“Many of these businesses are not only benefiting from the small business tax cut to 27.5 per cent, but some are almost doubling production and expanding their workforce to keep up with increased business as a result of strong economic growth.
“I am proud to be part of a government that’s backing small and medium businesses, created more jobs and strengthened the economy. The proof is in the pudding.”
