Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, said the Federal Government is making the right choices to ensure Australia’s remarkable economic growth story continues, so we can secure better days ahead for hard-working Australians in the New England Electorate.

“Our economic growth has been hard won and we have consistently outperformed the largest advanced economies in the world but we shouldn’t take our success for granted. We are helping hardworking Australians in the New England Electorate with a plan for more and better jobs, by securing the essentials they rely on and by easing cost of living pressures” Mr Joyce said.

“This Government is particularly focused on small business as the main drivers of the economy, and with more than 16,000 small businesses in the New England Electorate, it is great news for them that we are providing funding to incentivise state governments to cut red tape and extend the instant asset write off of up to $20,000 to small businesses for a further twelve months.

“These are the right choices for growth that secures more and better paid jobs for local people and ensures the sustainability of regional economies.

“Along with other commitments in this Budget we are choosing to invest in building our nation with over $70 billion to transport infrastructure across Australia to reduce congestion, revitalise our cities and grow our regions, using a combination of grant funding, loans and equity investments. 

“We are taking action to safeguard Australian jobs and make sure that Australians have the necessary training and skills to be job-ready with a new Skilling Australians Fund, which will come from a foreign worker levy introduced as part of the program replacing the 457 Visa. When matched with State and Territory funding, it will support up to 300,000 apprentices, trainees, pre-apprentices and higher level skilled Australians.”

Mr Joyce added that the measures to improve conditions for small businesses came on top of the Federal Government’s Ten Year Enterprise Tax Plan passed in Parliament recently

“The Budget measures along with the recent tax cuts will benefit the New England community, because the Government understands that when taxes are lower for small businesses, that money is reinvested in expanding a business, hiring more people, giving them more hours of work and paying them more.”

The Ten-Year Enterprise Tax Plan helps businesses with turnovers of up to $10 million as they are now defined as small businesses and will pay a lower company tax rate of 27.5 per cent from this financial year, before eventually falling to 25 per cent.

For more information on 2017-18 Budget measures, visit: www.budget.gov.au

 (ENDS)