Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Saturday evening, I was very proud to be able to attend the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards, a great event sponsored by Little Pig Consulting. There were some wonderful awards all through the evening. There are a couple I want to mention because they are very special to our community. The Business of the Year went to E&E Waste, a great organisation who has built up over a long period of time. The Innovation and Technology winner was TUFF Australia, and there were so many people happy to see Anton and Ally take home that award. But my favourite, of course, was the Hall of Fame, which went to Fitzy's hotel. Lots of good things happen at Fitzy's hotel in Toowoomba. Everyone's got a great story, and I'm sure that in just a couple of minutes it will be filled with people getting very excited about the cup.

As good as that award session is, it's important to point out that Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce does a great job advocating for businesses in our region. They've got a great philosophy that, if we work together, we get better outcomes. I want to take a moment to thank President Myf Rigby for all she's done, and the two vice presidents, Sam Wright and Barton Castley. I think that by continuing to work together we're going to get better outcomes for our region. Clearly, as was the conversation throughout the evening, the economy is getting tight. We are seeing changes in the economy. We're seeing different businesses struggle—some adapting, some not so well. But together we can work through those processes, and I think it's really important that the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce continue to raise the voice of Toowoomba businesses.

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