Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to ask some questions of the minister about this government's support for the Indigenous business sector, which is growing and thriving under the policies of the Coalition government. Could the minister please advise how the government is supporting the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who are seeking to start a small business and to grow that business? Because the coalition is the friend of small business. I think about when I get around my electorate and talk to Indigenous—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12:29 to 12:42

As I was saying before the debate was interrupted by the division, the coalition is very focused on small business and is a friend of small business. The government's responsible economic management allows us to put in place policy settings that will allow small businesses to prosper and grow. The government is very aware of the barriers that face many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women in getting into small business and growing their small businesses, so we want to support that to occur. That is why the government has been following its Indigenous procurement strategy, which was introduced in July 2015, to try to encourage support for more Indigenous businesses so that we get more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women running their own business, growing their business and, hopefully, employing more Indigenous Australians—and non-Indigenous Australians for that matter.

Several months ago, Minister Scullion and I met with one of the new generation of Indigenous business leaders, Kristal Kinsela, a great young Aboriginal woman, a director of a business—one of the over 1,000 businesses that have benefitted from the Indigenous Procurement Policy. Kristal, who lives and works in my electorate of Cowper—she's based in Port Macquarie—is running a very successful business which is getting local Indigenous jobseekers into work. It's a great news story, Minister. Kristal is a very dynamic young businesswoman and very focused. She has told me that the Indigenous procurement strategy is having a profound impact on getting more Indigenous Australians off the misery of welfare and into the dignity of work by operating their own businesses. That is great news.

Kristal was also selected as one of the delegates to present to COAG last February on the refresh of the Closing the Gap targets. She argued passionately for the need for all states and territories to follow the Commonwealth's lead in supporting Indigenous businesses. It's very pleasing that, some months after this, the coalition government in New South Wales announced that they were following the lead of the Commonwealth and introducing their own state-based Indigenous procurement strategy. My question to the minister is: could he please provide an update on the Indigenous Procurement Policy; and what other policies is the government going to introduce to help grow the Indigenous business sector?

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Remainder of bill—by leave—taken as a whole and agreed to.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.

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