❓ The Minister for Small Business provides an update on the WA Regional Small Business Awards, highlighting the government's support for small businesses and their contribution to the WA economy, particularly in regional areas. The answer praises the Liberal-National government's efforts and criticises the opposition.
AnsweredQoN 912Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
REGIONAL SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS
912. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI to
the Minister for Small Business:
Can the minister please update the house on the success of
small businesses recognised at the WA regional small business awards last week?
912. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI to
the Minister for Small Business:
Can the minister please update the house on the success of
small businesses recognised at the WA regional small business awards last week?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you, member for Bunbury. The member is a fantastic
regional member of Parliament, who looks after his people there and supports
businesses.
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE :
The member for Mandurah would do well. Members opposite do not understand small
business nor do they understand the needs of the small business community. Last
Friday night I attended the regional small business of the year award at the
2016 WA Regional Small Business Award ceremony. I was there with the member for
Moore, who is also a great advocate for small business in his region. The
Liberal–National government is focussed on supporting small business.
This is the fourteenth year these awards have been hosted. They are an
opportunity for many regional small businesses, which often operate in
isolation from the rest of the state in their regions, to get together with the
Chamber of Commerce to compete amongst each other for the awards and to come to
the state awards held here in Perth.
Small business contributes $44 billion to the economy every
year. In 2008, there were around 196 000 small businesses in Western Australia.
There are now over 214 000, a nine per cent increase. Each time a small
business gets off the ground, that helps employment in Western Australia,
members, so it is a great outcome. There are 53 000 of these small businesses
in regional WA. There were 44 finalists from throughout the Kimberly, the
Pilbara, the midwest, the goldfields, Esperance, Gascoyne, Peel, the great
southern and the south west regions. The businesses were diverse. There were
campsite operators, baby products —
Mr P.B. Watson interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member, that is enough!
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE :
— media electrical services, building and management, maintenance
services, hospitality, physiotherapy—if the member for Albany needs to
go to his local physiotherapist, I am sure there are some good ones down in
Albany—information technology and tourism businesses. What was really
impressive on the night was a young small business couple from Derby, who run a
business called What Now Electrical. They took out the Aboriginal small
business owner of the year category. They also took out the major award of
regional small business of the year. It was a fantastic achievement for that
small business. When all the small businesses gave their speeches, they told
the audience just how hard it is to run a small business. Small business
operators are the backbone of the Western Australian economy. They get out
there and really have a go. They do not have big unions looking after them.
They do not have Labor MPs telling them the world will collapse around them.
They have a Liberal–National government through the Small Business
Development Corporation, which supports small business generally and through
the local chambers of commerce in encouraging businesses to have a go. The
winning small business, What Now Electrical in Derby, was a fantastic example.
I thank all our regional members of Parliament in the Liberal–National
government, in this chamber, for the work they do to help small businesses in
their communities because I know those small businesses appreciate the support.
It is a credit to us as a government that we continue to inject money into
those regions through our royalties for regions scheme in supporting those
industries, particularly through tourism, and all our efforts in agriculture
because small businesses benefit and it keeps people in jobs.
regional member of Parliament, who looks after his people there and supports
businesses.
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE :
The member for Mandurah would do well. Members opposite do not understand small
business nor do they understand the needs of the small business community. Last
Friday night I attended the regional small business of the year award at the
2016 WA Regional Small Business Award ceremony. I was there with the member for
Moore, who is also a great advocate for small business in his region. The
Liberal–National government is focussed on supporting small business.
This is the fourteenth year these awards have been hosted. They are an
opportunity for many regional small businesses, which often operate in
isolation from the rest of the state in their regions, to get together with the
Chamber of Commerce to compete amongst each other for the awards and to come to
the state awards held here in Perth.
Small business contributes $44 billion to the economy every
year. In 2008, there were around 196 000 small businesses in Western Australia.
There are now over 214 000, a nine per cent increase. Each time a small
business gets off the ground, that helps employment in Western Australia,
members, so it is a great outcome. There are 53 000 of these small businesses
in regional WA. There were 44 finalists from throughout the Kimberly, the
Pilbara, the midwest, the goldfields, Esperance, Gascoyne, Peel, the great
southern and the south west regions. The businesses were diverse. There were
campsite operators, baby products —
Mr P.B. Watson interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member, that is enough!
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE :
— media electrical services, building and management, maintenance
services, hospitality, physiotherapy—if the member for Albany needs to
go to his local physiotherapist, I am sure there are some good ones down in
Albany—information technology and tourism businesses. What was really
impressive on the night was a young small business couple from Derby, who run a
business called What Now Electrical. They took out the Aboriginal small
business owner of the year category. They also took out the major award of
regional small business of the year. It was a fantastic achievement for that
small business. When all the small businesses gave their speeches, they told
the audience just how hard it is to run a small business. Small business
operators are the backbone of the Western Australian economy. They get out
there and really have a go. They do not have big unions looking after them.
They do not have Labor MPs telling them the world will collapse around them.
They have a Liberal–National government through the Small Business
Development Corporation, which supports small business generally and through
the local chambers of commerce in encouraging businesses to have a go. The
winning small business, What Now Electrical in Derby, was a fantastic example.
I thank all our regional members of Parliament in the Liberal–National
government, in this chamber, for the work they do to help small businesses in
their communities because I know those small businesses appreciate the support.
It is a credit to us as a government that we continue to inject money into
those regions through our royalties for regions scheme in supporting those
industries, particularly through tourism, and all our efforts in agriculture
because small businesses benefit and it keeps people in jobs.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.