Peter “I’ve run a small business” Dutton delivers budget reply

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has promised to increase the instant asset write-off threshold to $30,000 and make the measure permanent for small business.

In his third budget reply speech last night, the leader emphasised his experiences as a small business owner to spruik his credentials to serve the sector.

“The budget handed down on Tuesday is one of the most irresponsible I’ve seen,” he said.

“Our economic plan – with its tried and tested principles – will restore competitiveness and rebuild economic confidence.”

Peter “I’ve run a small business” Dutton

Claiming that the Coalition genuinely understands small business, Dutton described Australia’s 2.5 million small businesses as the “lifeblood of our communities”.

“I’ve run a small business, as have many of my colleagues – unlike most Labor parliamentarians,” he said.

Announcing a policy to extend the value of assets eligible for the instant asset write-off to $30,000 and make this ongoing for small businesses, Dutton said this would simplify depreciation for millions of small businesses by “cutting red tape, boosting investment in productive assets, lowering business costs and prices.”

He also promised that the Coalition would remove the “complexity and hostility” of Labor’s industrial relations agenda which he described as “putting unreasonable burdens” on SMEs.

“We will revert to the former Coalition government’s simple definition of a casual worker and create certainty for our 2.5 million small businesses,” he said.

Outlying a road map to get Australia “back on track”, Dutton promised to slash the annual migration rate to 140,000 and cut back international student numbers to address the nation’s housing crisis if the Coalition is elected next year.

He also reemphasised his vision of a nuclear-powered nation to secure a future of “cheaper, consistent and cleaner electricity”.

At the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) national summit last month Dutton highlighted the Coalition’s push for nuclear energy in its pitch to the SME community.

The budget reply speech also took aim at billionaires, slamming aspects of the government’s Future Made in Australia policy as “magic pudding spending”, while arguing that “$13.7 billion on corporate welfare for billionaires doesn’t help the economy” or make voter’s lives easier.

After almost a decade serving as a police officer from 1990-99, Peter Dutton left the service and completed a Bachelor of Business at the Queensland University of Technology. He co-founded the construction and childcare centre company Dutton Holdings with his father in 2000, before being elected to the Brisbane constituency of Dickson in the 2001 election.

To see SmartCompany‘s full budget coverage, click here.

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