Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

It is time again to issue the ParlyFOF challenge—back, again, for the second year in a row and bigger than ever. November is Shop Small month, a month when we celebrate small business all around the country. In this House, each November, Parliamentary Friends of Aussie Fashion, known as ParlyFOF, come together to challenge each other to wear our local designers and local clothing manufacturers for the full month of November. The ParlyFOF police will be, once again, out of the doors checking your labels—even checking them twice—to make sure that you are wearing Australian made clothes. I expect all of my colleagues to do the same.

We know that many of them will never be caught out. We know that Anna Burke will never be caught out in something that is not Australian, nor will Michelle Rowland, Joanna Griggs, Jane Prentice or Adam Bandt—he was tested last year and found not wanting; he was wearing Australian clothes. There are many in this place who do it every day, all year. And there's another one, the member for Cowan, holding out the lapel of his Australian jacket—a proud ParlyFOF! We will be checking in November. We will be catching you at the doors and making sure you are telling the truth about this.

It is a great opportunity for us to support our great local businesses. I am wearing Ruth Fattal. Next Saturday there will be a stall in Parramatta where you will be able to buy Amalina, Wanyika, Ruth Fattal, Lesem, Bayvick, Cocoson and Suzan Mutesi. They are some great local designers, and I will make sure I wear all of them in November. ParlyFOF is on!

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