❓ Mr. Jones asks about the government's support for Lotterywest retailers. The Premier outlines the $39 million Better Business initiative and past support, highlighting the government's commitment to small businesses and Lotterywest's community contributions.
AnsweredQoN 153Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LOTTERYWEST — RETAILERS
153. Mr H.T. JONES to the Premier:
Madam Speaker, I would like to give
a shout-out on behalf of the member for Nedlands to the students from Nedlands
Primary School. The member for Nedlands and the Attorney General are graduates
of that fine school.
The SPEAKER : One out of two
is not bad!
Mr H.T. JONES : I refer to the
McGowan Labor government's commitment to supporting Western Australian
small businesses.
(1) Can the
Premier outline to this house how this government is supporting and
strengthening businesses that sell Lotterywest games?
(2) Can the
Premier outline how these initiatives will ensure that Lotterywest can continue
providing support to the WA community into the future?
153. Mr H.T. JONES to the Premier:
Madam Speaker, I would like to give
a shout-out on behalf of the member for Nedlands to the students from Nedlands
Primary School. The member for Nedlands and the Attorney General are graduates
of that fine school.
The SPEAKER : One out of two
is not bad!
Mr H.T. JONES : I refer to the
McGowan Labor government's commitment to supporting Western Australian
small businesses.
(1) Can the
Premier outline to this house how this government is supporting and
strengthening businesses that sell Lotterywest games?
(2) Can the
Premier outline how these initiatives will ensure that Lotterywest can continue
providing support to the WA community into the future?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member.
(1)–(2) On
Sunday I joined the member in Byford and we had a great time visiting one of
our state's best Lotterywest retailers. Her name is Gabrielle Lyon, and
she runs Byford Newsagency. We were able to talk to her about the new package
that we have announced to support Lotterywest retailers across Western Australia.
There are 500 retailers across the state—newsagents and individual
kiosks—that sell our Lotterywest products to the public all over the
state. As we know, every now and then there is a major winner; in fact, we had
one who won, I think, $40 million the other day—a very, very lucky
person. We want to support our retailers into the future and make sure that
they continue to sell Lotterywest products and support the community through
Lotterywest.
In conjunction with Lotterywest we
were able to announce on Sunday the $39 million Better Business initiative to
improve sustainability and support for retailers around our state over the next
five years. It is funded by Lotterywest and comprises $3.5 million in business
support payments—direct payments to retailers; $500 000 in dedicated
support services to improve the operations and business management of the
retailers; and a range of incentive packages and other improvements across the
network.
This
builds on the other things we have done since we have been in office. When I became
Premier in 2017 , it is fair to say that the Lotterywest retail network
was in disarray and there was unhappiness about some of the decisions the
former government had taken. We took immediate action to reverse that and
ensure that the retailers, good small business people that they are, were
properly supported. We supported them with shop fit-outs, signage arrangements
and sales materials—all the things that were upsetting them. We got a great
manager in Susan Hunt, who has since been replaced by Ralph Addis, and some
great people to run the organisation sympathetically to retailers, and to work
with the retailers as opposed to against them, which is what was occurring
before we came to office.
Over the COVID pandemic, we supported
the retailers with millions of dollars in support packages; in fact, there was a $15 million package giving them
support to stay afloat during those relatively brief periods when the
shops were shut. All of that has now been built on by this new announcement
that we made the other day. We want our
retailers to continue to be strong. We support small business and we want our s mall
businesses to be successful, and that is why we are providing this in
conjunction with Lotterywest so that they can continue to operate in an
increasingly difficult retail environment and bring the proceeds back that we invest through Lotterywest into important
initiatives all over Western Australia. In closing, I thank all the
retailers out there—500 or so; I met a few hundred of them at Kings
Park on Sunday—for the work they do around Western Australia,
supporting our community.
(1)–(2) On
Sunday I joined the member in Byford and we had a great time visiting one of
our state's best Lotterywest retailers. Her name is Gabrielle Lyon, and
she runs Byford Newsagency. We were able to talk to her about the new package
that we have announced to support Lotterywest retailers across Western Australia.
There are 500 retailers across the state—newsagents and individual
kiosks—that sell our Lotterywest products to the public all over the
state. As we know, every now and then there is a major winner; in fact, we had
one who won, I think, $40 million the other day—a very, very lucky
person. We want to support our retailers into the future and make sure that
they continue to sell Lotterywest products and support the community through
Lotterywest.
In conjunction with Lotterywest we
were able to announce on Sunday the $39 million Better Business initiative to
improve sustainability and support for retailers around our state over the next
five years. It is funded by Lotterywest and comprises $3.5 million in business
support payments—direct payments to retailers; $500 000 in dedicated
support services to improve the operations and business management of the
retailers; and a range of incentive packages and other improvements across the
network.
This
builds on the other things we have done since we have been in office. When I became
Premier in 2017 , it is fair to say that the Lotterywest retail network
was in disarray and there was unhappiness about some of the decisions the
former government had taken. We took immediate action to reverse that and
ensure that the retailers, good small business people that they are, were
properly supported. We supported them with shop fit-outs, signage arrangements
and sales materials—all the things that were upsetting them. We got a great
manager in Susan Hunt, who has since been replaced by Ralph Addis, and some
great people to run the organisation sympathetically to retailers, and to work
with the retailers as opposed to against them, which is what was occurring
before we came to office.
Over the COVID pandemic, we supported
the retailers with millions of dollars in support packages; in fact, there was a $15 million package giving them
support to stay afloat during those relatively brief periods when the
shops were shut. All of that has now been built on by this new announcement
that we made the other day. We want our
retailers to continue to be strong. We support small business and we want our s mall
businesses to be successful, and that is why we are providing this in
conjunction with Lotterywest so that they can continue to operate in an
increasingly difficult retail environment and bring the proceeds back that we invest through Lotterywest into important
initiatives all over Western Australia. In closing, I thank all the
retailers out there—500 or so; I met a few hundred of them at Kings
Park on Sunday—for the work they do around Western Australia,
supporting our community.
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