Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Emerging Trade Markets) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to ask the minister about the BER program and in particular the businesses in the central western part of New South Wales that were affected by the collapse of the construction company TCT Construction, a major subcontractor engaged as part of the BER program. As the minister is aware, there are bills owing to contractors, in particular in the Dubbo area, of approximately $1.7 million due to the collapse of TCT. In particular, Jarrod Kennedy from Jarrod Kennedy Welding is owed $60,000; Chris Haynes, a businessman from Coolah, is owed approximately $20,000—and there are many others. These businesses are in serious financial difficulty. I would like to ask the minister what she personally is doing to make sure that the interests of these businesses are taken care of. They believe that because they were working for the federal government they were indeed secure and that in fact they would be paid. I would ask the minister if she could respond to the concerns of those businesses.

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