VAILO Company Founder

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:36): My question is to the Treasurer. What does the Treasurer say to small business owner Matt Kowald? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TELFER: Mr Kowald reportedly is waiting on payment of over $30,000 from VAILO for a scoreboard his company installed in May. He said on FIVEaa radio yesterday that: 'We have to put loads of things on hold and watch where you are spending and obviously we've had to pay all of our workers all their entitlements, super, all the people who went into this project, crane companies, everything. To not get it back to then pay all those people, it comes straight out of your bottom line. Our pockets are empty now.'

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer, Minister for Defence and Space Industries) (14:36): It is the same message I send to all small businesses, consistent with the position that this government has taken and the changes that we have made since coming into government, and that is that when invoices fall due, regardless of circumstances, they should be paid. In fact, since we have come into government, we have changed the provisions that were put in place under the previous Labor government, which not only required that government invoices be paid within 30 days but also ensured that there was interest chargeable by people who were owed money by the government to small businesses when they were not being paid.

In fact, we have changed that now to 15 business days, so we don't just talk the talk: we walk the walk. I appreciate the shadow treasurer's interest in this matter, raising questions about the Adelaide 500. He is an assiduous shadow, because so concerned is he that he is going to go and personally research the issue himself, accepting free tickets to the race over the weekend. We look forward to seeing him there. He feels so passionately about the issue he is prepared to stand by his principles and go and investigate it himself, and I think that is a really positive thing for the shadow treasurer.