Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

They do an amazing job in this space. In my community, and in so many others that I see, the small to medium businesses support my football clubs, my sporting clubs and my community service organisations. The small businesses are often the glue that helps to hold our small communities together. It is important for me, as a dairy farmer, to be able to drive into my home community of Harvey and buy the basic items I need for my business. When we break down or we need an item for a repair or maintenance, whether it is for the milking machine or to do with our vehicles, we often to draw on other small businesses that are providing services in our community. That is the importance of small business right around Australia.

I am very pleased that we in this government have been very proactive in supporting small businesses with many of the initiatives that we have taken. The instant asset write-off has been an absolute boon for many small businesses. Some of the businesses in my electorate are doing such a great job. I want to talk about Traffic Force. Traffic Force is a 100 per cent WA owned and operated business involved in traffic management solutions, and they are doing a fantastic job in Bunbury. I look at all of the farming businesses, the small to medium enterprises and, of course, our food manufacturers. So many of them are small to medium enterprises, and we have heard how agriculture has overtaken mining as our major exporter. How many other small to medium businesses, both direct production and manufacturing businesses, sit beneath them? There are thousands of them. These are the ones driving the exports.

I have been able to secure nearly $10 million from this government to help upgrade the Busselton-Margaret River Regional Airport to enable it to manage international freight. That is going to be a transformative opportunity in the South West. Not only are we going to see the potential of 120,000 new tourists coming from, perhaps, this side of the world, some of the members in the House might choose to fly directly into the Busselton-Margaret River area and enjoy some of the amazing experiences and food. Outside of Perth, it is the events capital of Western Australia. We have so much to offer, and the fact that very soon you will be able to fly directly into this area is going to be an absolute economic multiplier. All sorts of small to medium businesses that we are seeking to offer tax relief to will be part of that growth and, in fact, will drive that growth and opportunity. I look at other small businesses like Think Water in Bunbury. Some of the work they do with irrigation systems is just amazing. Hastie Waste at Donnybrook has grown from a small business to be a key part of managing waste in our region. Accountancy and all sorts of service providers in my part of the world are also doing a great job.

I want to finish on a company called BCE Surveying. They have the only 3D-survey-grade, mobile laser scanner in the Southern Hemisphere. They have taken a risk, invested their own money and gone out and bought and perfected this particular equipment. It is an amazing piece of equipment that can have a significant impact on the cost of building major roads and bridges, bringing them up to 3D-survey grade by driving through and capturing all of that information. They are doing an amazing job. Now they are going even further, investing in the type of laser that brings up all the services beneath the surface. There are opportunities in construction and maintenance of long-term assets with the sort of picture that that will give. If you were tunnelling and you were able to do a run-through with this 3D-survey-grade laser scanner to look at the top level, at all the buildings, you would be able to bring up the finer details of each building. Then, if there were claims made about, perhaps, increased damage to buildings, you could do another run with that particular piece of equipment and you would be able to bring up if and when there had been any damage. So this particular piece of equipment has incredible capabilities, and I commend BCE Surveying for actually investing and taking a risk and employing people to do so. And that is why we are so committed to the measures in this bill, and so committed to offering tax relief to small and medium businesses and to making sure that everybody investing in this country gets the opportunity they deserve.

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