Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

That was very worthy topic from the member for Monash. Family businesses account for around 70 per cent of Australian businesses. Now, when we think about family businesses, we often think of small businesses such as your local hairdresser, restaurant, maybe an accounting practice or tradies. So many of the businesses we need and use in our community are in fact family businesses. But family businesses also include some very big businesses and some very big names. In South Australia they include very well known brands such as San Remo, Coopers, Thomas Foods, Bickford's, Haigh's, Beerenberg, Sarah Constructions and Seeley air conditioning—all family businesses. And, as can be seen, family businesses cross many sectors. The economic contribution family businesses make to the Australian economy is significant, and, particularly for those large businesses, there is often an element of philanthropy in them. So they're not only embedded in the community; they also give back to their communities.

This week I met with Catherine Sayer, the chief executive officer of the Family Business Association for Australia and New Zealand, and we discussed how family owned businesses have some specific issues around managing the family dynamic within the business. For some smaller family businesses, the formalising of employment conditions for family members can be an issue. Succession planning can also be a particular pain point in these businesses, often taking three to five years to resolve, and of course, being a family, you want to avoid conflict.

Currently there are no actual statistics collected on family businesses, either specifically counting which businesses consider themselves to be family owned or what their contribution to the economy and employment is. Given that 70 per cent of Australian businesses are family businesses, our best guess would be that around 70 per cent of GDP and employment outside the public services comes from family businesses. The Family Business Association is keen to get the Australian Bureau of Statistics to collect statistics on this important business type in order to better support them continue to grow and thrive.

Over the weekend, I attended Flinders Medical Centre in my electorate for the announcement of yet more new beds being fast-tracked. We've already opened an additional six care beds at the nearby repatriation hospital, along with a 26-bed GEM unit coming online in September. These are really important because they enable older people not only to get fast, appropriate care away from the emergency department but also get a proper workup by medical staff, since they often have quite complex health conditions. We all know that one of the reasons for ambulance ramping is that the emergency department is full, and the reason the emergency department is full is at least in part that there aren't enough beds to transfer people into. It's not an easy thing to fix, but these units are part of the solution.

On Sunday, I accompanied Premier Peter Malinauskas, Health Minister Chris Picton, Human Services Minister Nat Cook, and the member for Davenport, Erin Thompson, to announce not only another 20 beds being fast-tracked and opening in May but also the plans for the redevelopment of the Flinders Medical Centre.

We had a look around the site, and it's coming together really amazingly well. This was a $498 million joint election commitment between the state and federal Labor governments, and it's very much needed. Flinders is over 50 years old and, while it was state-of-the-art when it opened, it's now a bit tired and some areas really aren't up to the standards required for best practice modern medicine. The new development will feature a 20-bed inpatient ward; a 232-bed adult inpatient unit; an 18-bay same-day medical unit; a 16-bed intensive care unit and CT suite; four new operating theatres; a 14-bay recovery area; a new day surgery admission centre; and a dedicated floor for the Flinders eye surgery clinic.

Having worked in the health sector for many years, I know how important top-quality, timely and local health care is to quality of life for Boothby residents, so I'm really pleased not only to see this taking shape but also by all of the other health commitments that the Albanese Labor government is rolling out. We have an urgent care clinic in Marion to take pressure off the Flinders emergency department, and there have been 3½ thousand patients through the doors as of early March. That's 3½ thousand fewer patients in the emergency department and they're getting fast, appropriate care. It's walk-in—you don't need an appointment—it has long hours and it bulk bills.

We've also established an endometriosis clinic at Glenelg, which is providing such enormous relief to women across Adelaide. The recent tripling of the bulk-billing incentive has led to a 4.8 per cent increase in bulk-billing in Boothby, which is really pleasing, and the reduction in prescription copayments has saved Boothby residents more than $2¼ million since 1 January 2023. Over 29,006 prescriptions have been filled in Boothby already, meaning 29,000 scripts at close to half the cost. Accessible, affordable health care is a proud legacy of the Labor government, and I'm really pleased to see that we're building on this.

Over the weekend, I attended the Electrify Adelaide information session, which was held in Unley, just across the border from Boothby—I'm allowed out occasionally! My husband has always said that working your way through a solar panel and energy rebate contract is the new version of what we went through with mobile phone contracts! They're way too complicated. Electrify Adelaide is running information sessions so that people can come along and ask the questions they want to ask, hear information from people who know what they're talking about and hear from people who already have the products. If you want to find out about renewables, about saving money and about reducing your carbon footprint then this is the place to turn up to and ask your questions.

We had a chat about solar panels and batteries: how many are the right number? What angle do you put them at? How do you fit them on your roof? What about solar access and battery size? We also talked about Mitcham council's bulk-by offer, which is a fantastic way of getting solar panels and batteries on roofs in the Mitcham council area. They have done all the due diligence on the contracts and the companies. They've had three rounds so far and have been oversubscribed each time. It's a really fantastic initiative and I know that they're now rolling this out to other councils. We had conversations about heat pumps and induction cooking—there were some live demonstrations with some very yummy momos from Corinne—and of course we talked about electric vehicles, with questions on cost, charging, range, towing capacity and maintenance. While people understand that they don't have to buy petrol for an electric vehicle, they don't necessarily understand that they don't actually have to maintain the car so often either because there are very few moving parts in the car.

We had lots of conversations about range. I always tell the story that my husband and I took an electric vehicle a year ago and drove from Adelaide down the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, then from Melbourne to Canberra and then from Canberra back to Adelaide through Halls Gap. We had no problems finding chargers. It takes about 15 minutes for a supercharger every three or four hours. By that stage you're probably ready to stretch your legs—to get out, find a toilet and have a coffee. I can absolutely guarantee that this is a really great way of getting around, saving money and reducing your carbon footprint.

RAA in Adelaide is also rolling out chargers across the state so, increasingly, you can find them in more and more remote areas. Of course, the aim is that there should be one about every 150 kilometres—much the same as you would find for petrol anyway. As someone who mostly drives in the city, I have to say that I just charge my car at home, maybe once a week or even once a fortnight. I don't need to find a charger because I've got one at home and I'm not doing that many charges. The charges are really for long distances.

If you have an Electrify event happening near you, I'd highly recommend you get along. They are free. They are very friendly. They are happy to answer any question. No question's too silly; no question's too complex. It's a really great event, and I congratulate them.

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