Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Christmas is a time to buy something special for someone you love. Firstly, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a healthy and happy Christmas, a plea to stay safe and have a terrific time with your family.

On another point, our local shops are part of our regional family. They support employees and give energy and spirit to our towns and villages. Apart from trying to purchase all my gifts from local small businesses, I've taken the time to copy a colleague and establish some small boxes in different shops, to collect vouchers, in some of my Nowra stores. The 2017 Gilmore Shop Small project promotes our local businesses and encourages people to shop locally during December. The participating businesses include Flamingo Florist, Cherubs 3, Deli on Kinghorne, Ninety one Junction, Aquatique, Knickerboxers, Scruples Hairdressing, The Leaf, Kinghorne Traders and Nourish. A customer can fill out a form and put it in a big barrel. We'll pick one out, I'll buy a voucher from the winning store and that will be delivered to that particular person. It's just a way of saying: 'Let's shop local. Let's look after our local businesses, and somebody will get a prize.'

I want to give a shout out to the Nowra CBD revitalisation committee. They have done an amazing job putting corflute wrapped in triangles around all of the posts, and the sign says 'Merry Christmas'. It's a bit of colour and a bit of cheer. It's well deserved. People are really happy with it. They've put tinsel all around the town. It feels like Christmas. Let's hope they all enjoy it.

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