Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to inform the House that yesterday—Wednesday, 8 February—was Australia’s National Franchise Appreciation Day. It may be a day that does not receive widespread coverage. It may be a day that many people would wonder about the relevance of. But, in reality, National Franchise Appreciation Day is a day worth celebrating. National franchises operating across Australia employ over 600,000 people. That is something that certainly should be celebrated and appreciated. Some 64,000 workplaces employ those 600,000 Australians. In addition, franchises certainly play a crucial role in training up young generations of Australians for the kinds of skills they need in order to go on and forge successful careers for themselves in business and, indeed, in empowering a number of Australians to operate, start up and own their own businesses.

The Franchise Council of Australia represents some 600 franchise companies and professionals who support franchising as a way of doing business. Among its objectives, the Franchise Council of Australia seeks to set an international standard of best practice for Australian franchise systems and to create a strong and financially viable franchising sector. The Franchise Council of Australia’s board of directors is comprised of representatives from all states and territories in Australia. It views its role effectively as one of proving essential support to the franchise industry by offering practical information; providing a directory of member franchisors and service providers, such as consultants, lawyers and accountants; advertising franchise events scheduled around the nation; and offering extensive franchise education programs.

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of being awarded the Small Business and Franchise Politician of the Year 2006. I am truly humbled and honoured that I have been selected to be the recipient of this award. Meeting with CEO Richard Evans, Stephen Giles, John O’Brien, Steve Butler, Phil Ciniglio, Stephen Hansen, John Longmore, George Yammouni, Noel Caroll, Chris Malcolm and Ken Rosebery—all of whom represent some of Australia’s leading franchisees and franchisors—certainly gave me the opportunity to express to them my sincere desire to ensure that the Howard government and its Treasurer, Peter Costello, continue to have the opportunity of ensuring that the big-picture economic functions of the Australian nation, through the Australian government, continue to go from strength to strength.

In summary, I have raised—as I did in my first speech on 13 February 2002—my absolute commitment to working hard for the 34,000 small businesses on the Gold Coast, which on a per capita basis is the small business capital of Australia. I intend to be a very strident advocate for those small businesses. The role of government surely at its very least is to make sure that the Australian economy remains strong. Peter Costello as Treasurer and John Howard as Prime Minister have delivered that strong economy to the Australian people. We have simply set in place the kind of business environment that businesses need in order to employ people, to generate wealth and to go from strength to strength. In this vein, the Small Business Council of Australia and the national Franchise Council of Australia play a crucial role in ensuring not only that that message is communicated but also that the federal government is aware of concerns that the small business and franchise sectors have.

In an area of increasingly volatile and shifting consumer preferences, it is important that small businesses are well equipped to deal with the ever-changing environment. In that respect, I am very pleased that the Howard government continues to lead reform, despite complex opposition from the Australian Labor Party, which seems, on the one hand, to enjoy the fact that the Australian economy is going so well but, on the other hand, seems to be doing all it can to prevent us moving forward. In that vein, I am very pleased that we have been able to tackle some of the big issues, such as industrial relations reform.

Regarding the Gold Coast, I am very pleased to say that the Howard government has been a strong supporter of a sector that employs the vast majority of Gold Coasters in one industry, the tourism industry, through the tourism white paper and the investment of some $800 million over four years. It is crucial that we recognise that small business truly is—although it is often considered to be cliched—the engine room of the Australian economy. I will continue to push for new measures that give small businesses a chance, such as the launch of the business.gov.au website, the launch of the revamped Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business program, as well as changes to the Trade Practices Act. I thank the Franchise Council of Australia for the award. It was my honour to receive it.