Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am here to bat for the small businesses and the medium-sized businesses in the Ryan electorate. They are doing it tough and the Rudd government is certainly no help to them. I want to draw the attention of the Labor member for Petrie to an article in the Australian on 9 March 2009. It was written by Grace Collier, a former union official. She has seen the light. She writes a very succinct and compelling piece. I draw your attention to Grace Collier’s article. I wish I had time to read the whole article but let me read a very compelling paragraph:

For the first time in ages, businesspeople were able to dismiss employees who they could no longer employ without fear of being sued and consequently having to pay huge amounts of go-away money just to avoid a ghastly legal process.

Talk about support for business! Member for Petrie, you have no idea about the tough conditions in which small businesses and medium-sized businesses operate throughout this country.

As I said, I want to bat for small businesses in the Ryan electorate. I know that a lot of them are listening tonight. I want to draw your attention, Mr Speaker, and the attention of my colleagues who are very kindly in the House, to a very courageous local business owner, Cobby Vines, who very kindly has allowed me to mention her name and her business. She runs a cafe called Betty Beans Coffee Emporium in the Mount Ommaney shopping centre. I want to give her a plug and encourage all my Mount Ommaney constituents to visit her business and buy a cup of coffee and a toasted sandwich. She very courageously wrote to me and I want to quote from her letter. She said:

Dear Michael Johnson

I own a cafe in your electorate and I employ 15 staff. In any week I serve 2000 local people and I have been in business for 8 years.

As part of the Government’s implementation of the Industrial Relations Reform an award is proposed for my business to take effect January 2010. This award would see my labour costs increase by some 20%.

This additional cost will make my business marginal. In particular Sunday trading … will not be viable and I will have to look at applying a penalty or closing on Sunday.

The imposition of a penalty for all evening hours is also problematic. This 10% impost when the majority of my business, particular in the last 12 months, has been at night.

All in all, in light of the so-called modern award, I am reconsidering whether I will continue to operate the business in 2010. I have worked in the hospitality industry for most of my life as have many of my staff. It seems absurd that a Government initiative would deliberately place our livelihoods at such risk, at a time like this.

Member for Petrie, talk about representing small businesses. What do you say to Cobby Vines, who owns the Betty Beans Coffee Emporium and who lives in my electorate at Moggill with her business partner? They are wonderful Australians who do so much community work even though they are running a small business. I want to salute Australians like her across the length and breadth of this country because, whilst doing it tough, they are still plugging on despite the policies of this government. I think the government should hang their heads in shame.

In the few minutes I have left, I want to also refer to another very courageous Australian, Darren Townsend, who I spoke to just a couple of minutes ago. He very kindly allowed me to use his name and mention his business—Townsend Entertainment. He runs a video business and owns three local DVD stores. He is a young bloke. Previously he owned 13 stores. He told me a very profound story—

See this speech in context