Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Hansard source

Over the course of the last few weeks, I've had the absolute privilege of visiting some small businesses not just in my electorate of Cowan but in other electorates around WA. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for inviting me along and for the openness of the conversations that we had. I do want to specifically mention a few of those small businesses.

I want to mention Cafe Viazza in Greenwood and Eve, who runs Cafe Viazza. It's a bit of an institution in Cowan. Cafe Viazza in Greenwood has a regular clientele who come in. They serve some pretty good homemade fare, I have to say, for their clientele there. I want to also mention Ahmed from Distinct Homes. Distinct Homes is a small outfit involved in the management of building homes, and they really contribute to our policy and our aspiration for building more homes in Australia. I want to mention Kareem from QA Bathroom Warehouse. QA Bathroom Warehouse in Malaga has been around for a while. They do a whole lot of bathroom supplies and sinks. Anything you can think of that goes into a bathroom can be found at QA Bathroom Warehouse in Malaga. Zak from the Meat Giants in Mirrabooka is my local butcher. I actually go there and get all my meat. There's a great variety of meat. Zak has really had to pivot a lot for the clientele in Mirrabooka and really understands and explained to me the flexibility of running a small business. I want to mention Henk from Industrial Automation in Joondalup in the member for Moore's electorate. Henk has this really great business where he automates things like water and lights coming on in public spaces, really improving the operational efficiencies of local councils.

All of these small businesses that I visited are very diverse—from cafes to automation—but they have something in common. They have a few things in common, but one of the things that they have in common is that they are all run and started by migrants. Around 34 per cent of small businesses are started or run by migrants. Some may be citizens. Some may be permanent residents awaiting citizenship. Something else that they share with all Australians is that they have an aspiration of a life for themselves and an aspiration to contribute to their communities. That's what all of them are doing. I had a conversation with Eve not just about the financial aspects but also about what she does for her community. These are the small businesses in Australia run by migrants, and we love them. (Time expired)

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