Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I have mentioned the role of the BECs but there are a wide range of Australian government support services on hand and I would urge small businesses and those in the farming sectors affected by the flood crisis to contact these services. They are free of charge and they are easy to access. A good start would be the Small Business Support Line. Its agents are highly trained. They come from small business backgrounds and they will be able to point small businesses to the form of financial assistance they can access as well as a range of other support services. For example, the disaster income recovery subsidy is available to those who have experienced a loss of income as a direct result of the flooding. In addition, the Australian government and state governments have partnered to provide emergency clean-up and recovery grants and my colleague Senator Ludwig has provided an update of the increased grants in respect of Queensland. (Time expired)