Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always interesting to stand in this chamber or the other chamber to speak about small business and hear those opposite pontificate about their magnificent support of the small business sector in our country when we saw under the previous government a loss of small business jobs to the tune of hundreds of thousands and saw the percentage of people employed in the small business sector fall from 51 per cent to 43 per cent. That is the legacy that those opposite have left for the small business sector in our country, so I find it very interesting that they stand up and claim the moral high ground. There is not only that but they also foisted on our small business sector the biggest, most useless carbon tax in the history of this country. The current government removed that massive impost on our small business sector. This side of the House has consistently, throughout the years, stood up for our small business sector, because we recognise that they are the engine room of the Australian economy. They employ 4.5 million people around Australia and produce some $330 billion of economic output.

This motion relates to the importance of infrastructure for small business. It is true that infrastructure is incredibly important to our small business sector to allow it to survive and flourish. Our small business people, such as our tradies, travel on our roads every day trying to get from one job to the next, but those opposite have failed to recognise that this government has rolled out one of the biggest infrastructure programs in Australia's history. New road and freight corridors are being built right across the country. It is interesting to note that state governments of the colour of those opposite have sought to cancel infrastructure projects which would have aided the small business sector in their communities.

In my electorate of Forde there are more than 11,000 small businesses. Many of these utilise Highway M1 connecting the Gold Coast and Brisbane, two major business hubs. We have a problem with the M1; it is nearing capacity and congestion is affecting many of the small businesses in my electorate, costing them thousands of dollars in time and resources every single day. Through setting up the Fix the M1 Taskforce we have committed to working towards obtaining the funding to fix this critical piece of infrastructure in South-East Queensland and find a solution. Investment in improved infrastructure benefits all businesses through their ability to generate economic growth and job creation, boosting not only our local, but also our regional economies. I would like to thank the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development and Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Truss, for his support in helping us seek a commitment to secure the funding to fix the M1 bottleneck between the Logan and Gateway Motorways.

In addition, the federal government has already committed $10 million to fix Exit 54, at upper Coomera, at the interchange with the M1, where a growing population and business community has struggled with congestion for many years. This piece of investment from the federal government will allow the new interchange to be built, significantly saving time for local businesses to get down to the Gold Coast or up to Brisbane. More importantly, it will allow the Coomera town centre to proceed, which, once opened, has the potential to provide several thousand jobs in the retail sector. Also in that space it will provide numerous jobs during the construction phase of the interchange, but also during the construction phase of the upper Coomera town centre. There are plenty of other business opportunities that have been waiting in the wings until decisions were made. I had the pleasure of turning the first sod on that project a week or so ago.

This government has proven, through its actions to date and its action going forward, that we are committed to building and delivering on the infrastructure that this country needs for the 21st century to allow our small business sector to continue to grow and prosper. (Time expired)

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