Wednesday 20 May 2026

Transcript - Doorstop, Parliament House Canberra

Topics: Federal budget, small business

E&OE....

Tim Wilson: So, the government’s budget is in complete disarray and what we have seen yesterday is the Treasurer releasing dodgy data that calls his own budget out as a lie to try and justify the new taxes they have put forward to smash small businesses. Small businesses doing it tough. Small business is already experiencing record insolvencies. Eight small businesses go broke every business hour and the government is not focused on what they’re going to do to back small business. What they are focused on is how they’re going to impose new taxes and make it harder for small business to get ahead.

Journalist: Just with the AFR front page to fast-track the legislation, is that not standard procedure when it comes to budgets? Do you think that’s acceptable for these changes to come through when Parliament resumes?

Tim Wilson: The government is focused on ramming the budget through to distract from the problems they are facing with their budget and the uprising from small business owners and investors all around this country. I completely understand that the Prime Minister is running away from those he’s seeking to kneecap, but the reality is Australians deserve to have a say in their budget, particularly when it includes so many taxes Australians didn’t vote for and that is built on a house of broken promises.

Journalist: Tim, you talk a lot about trying to pair back excess regulation. Why isn’t your proposed small business act just another layer of regulation?

Tim Wilson: It’s not at all. It’s focused on how do we empower small business, particularly around a pathway to be able to get ahead and the expectations on government to make sure that small business is heard through the pathway of conversation. It does the complete reverse. At the moment, small business just gets ignored by the government and in preference for those who walk the ministerial corridors of this building. Ours is going to make sure that when small business—something impacts small business, they get to have their say.

Journalist: This morning, Andrew Charlton was on the radio and he was saying that under the new CGT regime, in many cases people would be paying less in tax because the nominal gains will be—sorry, the real gains will always be smaller than the nominal gains. He was also saying that a reduced proportion of Australians are investing in shares—young Australians are investing in shares than over the last 20 years. What do you make of those two points?

Tim Wilson: Well I’d love him to release the data and the modelling to back up these claims, because the Treasury yesterday released modelling and data that was based on inflation data that was inconsistent with his own budget only a week ago. This government will come up with any spin or any excuse about why they’re going to punch down on the small businesses of this country and they’re focused on how they’re going to punish young Australians in particular and kneecap their pathways to get wealth and get ahead.

Journalist: Do you think it’s a fair starting point that no matter where the income comes from, that everyone should be paying the same amount of tax or similar amount of tax on that income, whether it’s from wages, whether it’s from selling a business? Should everyone just be paying the same amount of tax on that income?

Tim Wilson: Well the starting point for that would be that the government takes those proposals to the Australian community and they get to have their say. And of course, it all comes down to how you address the long-term problem of inflation. We know that the government is actively stoking inflation so they can take a larger share of Australians' wealth. The Labor economic model is to stoke inflation, tax inflation, then spend inflation in a wash-rinse-repeat cycle to slowly take away the wealth of Australians.

Journalist: Do you agree with Matt Canavan that the government should call an election now to get a mandate for these changes?

Tim Wilson: Well I’d love to see the government actually put these things—these changes to the Australian people. I know they’re not going to do that, because they know that they have broken trust with the community. They’ve taken the trust the Australian people had given them and abused it and that the Australian community would rightly judge them very harshly.

Journalist: If Labor decided to pair back these CGT changes and apply it only to property, would you support that?

Tim Wilson: I can’t see them doing any of that. Their entire budget strategy is built on taking the wealth of Australians and it won’t do anything to increase the volume of housing supply. Their own budget documents highlight 35,000 fewer homes will be built under these tax changes.

Journalist: Is that a no, then?

Tim Wilson: Well as I said, I fundamentally don’t believe in what they’re doing because it will lead to higher taxes and fewer homes. So we can’t support that.

[ENDS]