Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, on this first opportunity that I have, can I congratulate you on attaining the very high position of Deputy Speaker. I know you do a fantastic job.

I want to speak today about supporting local business, because I think that it is a very important part of what all Australians can do, not just governments and not just small businesses themselves but every single person in the country. The Shop Small campaign has been launched in Australia. It encourages consumers to support the thousands of hardworking small business people who contribute to the character as well as the economy in our local communities. I want to encourage certainly my constituents in the western corridor of Brisbane and Ipswich, throughout the electorate of Oxley, but also people in the neighbouring electorates, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, to go and support their local small businesses—to support their local butcher, the local baker, the fruit and veg guy who is down the road.

There are a whole range of fantastic small businesses with fantastic people who take an enormous risk in life and a challenge to work for themselves and to take on that responsibility of not only earning a wage for themselves but often employing other people, whether it is family members or others in the community. I want to acknowledge the hard work that they do. I want to encourage the work that they do. And I want to encourage people, when they think about their next shopping trip, to think small.

Think small; shop small. Go down to your local IGA. Go down to your local grocer. Go down to your local baker. Say g'day and introduce yourself to them. You will probably find that they may be a neighbour of yours. They may be somebody who lives in your street or in your suburb. They are people who also shop locally. I want to make sure that we are giving back as much as we can to small business, because they really are the backbone of the country and the backbone of the economy.

An honourable member: And we recognise that.

Absolutely. This Saturday, 23 November, is Shop Small Saturday. I am going to be doing what a lot of other people should be doing, and that is particularly going out and visiting some small businesses, local businesses, and talking to them about what we can all do as individuals—not just as members of parliament but as individuals. I am going to drop into my local IGA at Springfield Lakes and chat to Terry and his staff about their business and what they are doing in the run-up to Christmas and make sure they know they have good supporters in the local area. I am also going to be stopping by at Charlton's bait and tackle and visiting Brian and Craig there at Redbank. It is a fantastic little business, competing against some of the big guys in the world, but they have been in business for more than 30 years. Bait and tackle—I do not have to explain what they do, but they are a fantastic—

An honourable member interjecting—

Yes, if you like to go fishing, they are the place to visit. There are a whole heap of other fantastic local businesses in my area. But I know this story is the same story right across every electorate and every community, right across Australia. Shop small and help your local communities. (Time expired)