Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is Labour Day public holiday in Western Australia, so I am going to talk about work. Talking about work is no longer the province of those opposite. The coalition government have always been the party that support the work of small business. We know that small businesses provide significant opportunities for the employment of local people in their local communities.

Last week, I had the pleasure of calling Ms Kim Charles, manager of BusinessStation Inc. in Gosnells in thesouth of my electorate.The coalition government has committed a third of $1 million over three years to develop BusinessStation, which provides enterprisedevelopment services to the south-east metro region of Perth.Business Station offers business advice, training and online education forbusinesses and employees. We grant this funding as part of the Australian Small Business Advisory Services program 2014 Business Solutions round. This is a much-needed boost for small business support in Hasluck.

We are working on growing our small businesses to create jobs and shrink unemployment. The unemployment rate in my electorate is 4.9 per cent and is lower than the national average. But it is not low enough. Together with Business Solutions, I am working on that.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It being two o'clock, in accordance with standing order 43, the time for members’ statements has concluded.