Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Kennedy's amendment. I too represent a regional community, and I have to say that running a business in a regional community is very different. There are pressures on regional businesses that are not experienced in metropolitan areas. I'm talking about fires, floods and droughts, and the impacts those have on regional communities. That's why we have the rural business support scheme, a scheme that I support very much.

But I just want to tell the House very quickly about one small business in my electorate of Mayo, in my hometown of Mount Torrens. Many years ago, the centre of town had a really big stone shed; it's where we used to make ice cream, AMSCOL ice cream. That business closed and for many years, right in the heart of town, this huge, great big building was empty. Then we had Elders move in there for a few years and then, again, it was closed—for many, many years. It's not like in metropolitan areas, where one business moves out and another business moves in. This really ended up being an empty shell full of rats and everything else. We then had a business move into the town, Coopers of Mount Torrens, and I have to say that the whole town celebrated. That is a small business that would be very much impacted by this industrial relations legislation that we have before us. I just don't think that the government is really thinking deeply about the impact of this legislation on regional businesses across Australia. I would very much urge the government, perhaps in the Senate, to have a look at regional Australia and our small businesses, to try to provide some protections for them.

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