Friday 4 July 2025

EO&E……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

KENNY HEATLEY: Joining me live now is Shadow Small Business Minister Tim Wilson. Tim, thanks for joining us on the programme. Good to talk to you. I don't think I've talked to you so far, but in his speech today, the Prime Minister will say that under his government, big employers and small businesses will resume the rightful place as the primary source of growth in our economy. He also says he wants to reconnect with business leaders who have been critical of his first terms industrial relation reforms. What's your reaction to that and is this a bit of a U-turn from the first term? 

TIM WILSON: Well, in his first term Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent his whole time re-regulating the economy and had his union mates on speed dial and left small business right at the back of the line. So this is a complete reversal if this is what he's actually planning to do. I think this is all rhetoric, it's not actually going to be the results he intends to deliver. History shows that the Prime Minister is kind of like an ageing rock star. Who goes and gives a performance, but forgets the name of the city he's in when he makes an announcement and thanks those in the room, and then goes on and goes on to the next performance. The only way he is going to be able to deliver for small business is to actually address the root cause of the problems, which is to address the problem of over regulation, to reduce taxes, and a really simple, good way to do it is to stop his plan for a family savings tax on unrealised capital gains, which explicitly hits unsold assets in superannuation, particularly for small businesses. 

KENNY HEATLEY: Yeah, well he says that the focus is going to be on modernising the economy, cutting red tape, progress tax reform, turbocharge productivity and eliminate overlapping local, state and federal laws. I mean, to the Liberal Party, that would all sound pretty good, right?

TIM WILSON: Well, let's wait and see the results. As I said, he says lots of different things to the different audiences based on what the audience wants to hear, like an ageing rock star that simply goes from audience to audience, tells them what they want to hear and then moves on to the next one. What actually matters is plans and policies that he then goes on and executes. We also know he has a magic trick approach to a lot of policy. He puts forward what looks like something that's favourable to those that are backing themselves to build growth and opportunity for the Australian economy. But as soon as they're in the room, he springs a real surprise. And the real surprise is increasing costs to business, making it harder to employ Australians and increasing taxes on Australians. At the last election, we have Labor MPs like Matt Gregg in the federal electorate of Deakin, who told his then aspirational constituents that it wasn't Labor policy. That they were going to put forward a family savings tax on unrealised capital gains. He got elected and now he's going to go and vote for one in the Federal Parliament. You just can't trust these guys. 

KENNY HEATLEY: WhatsApp messages obtained by the Daily Telegraph has exposed the Liberal Party's anguish over gender quotas. Former Liberal Vice President Tina McQueen reportedly labelled a public petition to garner support for gender quotas as disgraceful. What's your reaction to that petition for gender quotas?

TIM WILSON: My focus is on how we empower women to be able to be part of the political system, to be part of our economic system and to go off and do things like start small businesses. I'm not going to litigate internal party matters in public discussion like this. Because in the end what the Liberal Party has always stood for is how we empower all Australians, no matter what your gender, your sexual orientation, your race, your ethnicity, to be full participants in Australian society. And that includes, of course, being a participant in our political system. And that's why the Liberal Party has always led the way and been the party of firsts in terms of representation on so many different sections of the community without any rigid rules, because we see our role as being a full representation.

KENNY HEATLEY: Do you think that the Liberal Party needs gender quotas though?

TIM WILSON: As I said, I'm not going to litigate these conversations. My focus on how we empower people to be part of, the full part of Australian society. Politics, small business, I know you want the quotes, but my focus is on small business and making sure Australians can get jobs and build a future economic growth in this country right now.

KENNY HEATLEY: Thank you, Tim.

 

ENDS