Coalition to announce bid to enshrine rights for small businesses including pay, contracts, and laws

The Coalition wants to enshrine the rights for small businesses to be paid, bid on government contracts, and have a voice on new laws.

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson will unveil the plans in a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, where he will also argue there should be a single definition of “small business” used consistently across all laws.

Some rules define business size by number of employees while other use revenue or turnover figures.

Mr Wilson says the Government’s budget last week was a disaster for small businesses, piled on top of four years of regulations and rule changes that had already hurt.

“Over the past year I have been speaking with small businesses across the country, and particularly about how the rules of the economy increasingly feel rigged against them,” he will say, accroding to a draft speech.

“And I have reached a conclusion: we have an economy designed for the 20th century, and I am no longer convinced tinkering at the margins will fix it. We need new economic structures for the 21st century.”

He’s launching a “stand with small” campaign to consult the sector on what it would like to see in a Small Business Act, starting with the three enshrined rights and a standard definition.

“We will replace Labor’s pessimism with Liberal optimism. A nation where the taxpayers are respected, hard work pays off, and Australians feel in control of their lives,” he will say.