Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to two outstanding Canberra residents, two Canberra legends, Cheryl and John Keeley. Cheryl and John work together, and they run the Narrabundah Newsagency, in the inner south of my electorate. Cheryl and John are the kind of small business people who really are local legends and whose hard work and community involvement means so much to the people in the area. People rave about the old-style, courteous service that Cheryl and John give to all their customers. They take an interest in local affairs and in their neighbourhood. As one of their loyal customers has said, the Narrabundah Newsagency provides tolerant and unbiased information about local and community issues.

Like so many small business owners in my electorate, the Keeleys work very long hours and they work very hard. But, as John Keeley told my office, he loves what he does and the people he and Cheryl serve, and these are the sentiments I hear so often from the small business sector in Canberra. I want to pay tribute to those hardworking Canberra small-business operators who are doing an extraordinary job with kindness, courtesy and understanding, exemplified by the Keeleys.