House debates

Monday, 20 October 2014

Adjournment

Wright Electorate: Small Business

9:25 pm

Photo of Scott BuchholzScott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I rise tonight to acknowledge the resilience and honour the engine room of my electorate—that is, my small business sector. Wright is a diverse and picturesque electorate, bordering Mudgeeraba in the south-east corner of Queensland, extending over the Tamborine Mountain ranges, taking in the picturesque Scenic Rim and Lockyer Valley, bordering the top of the Toowoomba range and taking in the New South Wales border. I am so privileged to represent such a beautiful electorate. The beauty is not only the landscape; it is also the personalities of those who serve you, whether you are a local or a tourist experiencing the Wright experience for the first time. Madam Speaker, I know you would love to have a look at the electorate of Wright. We will get you up there soon.

I remind the chamber that the Shop Small movement will run throughout the month of November. Shop Small is a national movement which was launched by Prime Minister Abbott last year. For the month of November, shoppers are encouraged to buy from local small businesses and to generally recognise the vital role that mum-and-dad business owners play in the life of the communities they serve. For a lot of communities throughout the electorate of Wright, shopping small is the only option. A lot of our communities do not have large retail outlets. In fact, we do not have a picture theatre.

Our biggest department store is a shop by the name of Maynard's in the small community of Boonah. I will share a small story about Maynard's. It recently celebrated its 70th year in business. The family-owned department store was opened in 1944 by Jack and Ethel Maynard and is managed today by Greg—who is quite a handy golfer as well. He has five staff, including Errol Lankowski, who has been with Maynard's for 52 years. That is a testament to the loyalty of those business owners and a significant milestone for a local small business. It is my suspicion that it is a fairly rare commodity to have employees stay for that period of time. Other businesses in my electorate include the Dennis family and their robotic dairy enterprise, which I have spoken about in this House on a number of occasions. There are over 10,000 small businesses in my electorate and the estimated total turnover of the sector is around $1 billion—the largest contributor to gross regional product in my electorate.

The Scenic Rim Regional Council and the Lockyer Valley Regional Council will shortly be holding their business excellence awards—a way that our local community connects and acknowledges the great work that our small businesses, our family owned businesses and our microbusinesses do in sometimes trying conditions. I would also like to acknowledge the support associations, the chambers of commerce, who help guide small business—the Mudgeeraba Chamber of Commerce; the Logan Country Chamber of Commerce; the Lockyer valley chamber, which trades as Lockyer Better Business; the Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce; the Kooralbyn Valley Chamber of Commerce; the Springbrook Chamber of Commerce; the Beaudesert Chamber of Commerce; the Boonah District Chamber of Commerce; and various others. To all the members, presidents and executives who give their time freely for the betterment of our community, I acknowledge and thank you for your contributions.

I also acknowledge that in the last couple of years businesses in my electorate have suffered and in the last couple of years 25 per cent have gone by the wayside. The Abbott government and the coalition are committed to ensuring that we provide an environment where businesses can continue to grow, continue to employ and continue to be the cornerstone in our communities. To all the local businesses throughout the electorate of Wright, I honour you, I salute you and I thank you for the work you do in our communities. You are part of our future.

House adjourned at 21:30