Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday Laurie Oakes in his final column said that politicians need to get out more, need to speak with people, do town hall forums and visit businesses. I can say that, over the last six weeks, my team and I have done just that. We've had some great feedback. People are very worried about national security. They want to see a strong Australia, strong borders, a strong Defence Force and sustainable immigration. The one story I've really taken away from the past winter has been the small business story in Canning. We've got 11,000 small businesses. In the last two years we have seen the growth of 100 businesses or so. We've got some really exciting things happening.

I think of Tattarang Springs in Byford run by brothers Andrew and Dan Paton, who are going to produce local vodka and gin. I think of Laurie and Justin Byatt, poultry farmers in Canning, who produce 400,000 chickens every 60 days. I think of Josh Davenport in Carmel with Myattsfield Vineyards, who has recently started exporting to Taiwan and, if you are looking for a good red, I suggest you try the Joseph Myatt 2014 reserve—it's an absolute cracker. I think of Stephen and Shara Davies, who have just invested in Davies Apiaries. Stephen is a third-generation beekeeper, who does hives for the consumer. I think of Beef Natural and Gerald Bergsma in Mundijong, who does preservative-free meat. He does paddock to plate. It's a great story. There's a lot of innovation and it's very exciting. I'm proud.