Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was my pleasure 2½ weeks ago to launch the Central Coast Business Enterprise Centre at its new location in the Tuggerah Business Park on the Central Coast. The Rudd government is committed to small business. Small business creates much of the prosperity on the Central Coast—my area—and throughout the country. There are over three-quarters of a million small businesses employing nearly four million people around Australia. There are a further 1.2 million non-employing small businesses. On the Central Coast, a large proportion of businesses are small businesses. In fact, there are more than 8,000 employing small businesses and 11,500 non-employing small businesses, comprising about 96.3 per cent of the business community, on the Central Coast. Small business is the heart and soul—the engine room—of the Central Coast economy. It is something that this government is very concerned about. It makes sure that it has policies that are small business friendly.

One of the reasons that the Central Coast Business Enterprise Centre was able to move to its new location is because at the last election I was very proud to be with the then opposition spokesperson for small business, who is now the small business minister, when we made an election commitment of $250,000 a year for the next four years to make sure that small business on the Central Coast had a place that they could go to—a small business advisory service; a one-stop shop for small businesses on the Central Coast. This is vital for the economy of the Central Coast, given, as I said, that over 96.3 per cent of businesses on the Central Coast being small businesses.

We have higher than average unemployment in my area. It is close to 7.3 per cent. Thirty per cent of people in my area have to commute to Sydney to find employment. Those who are employed on the Central Coast are usually employed by small businesses. This promise that the Rudd government made at the last election, one that we fully funded in the last budget, is one that will help small business on the Central Coast. In fact, the Central Coast Business Enterprise Centre has never received a cent from federal governments until the Rudd government honoured the commitments that it made at the last election. They have never received a cent even though they have a tremendous track record in relation to assisting small business on the Central Coast. In the last seven years, 20,000 businesses have been assisted by the Business Enterprise Centre. This has been a massive help to the economy of the Central Coast.

What the Central Coast Business Enterprise Centre does is provide services such as business planning, access to legal and accounting services, information and guidance on loans and banking products, development of simple marketing plans, guidance on leasing, advice on government regulation compliance for all tiers of government and mentoring for new businesses. These are vital services that, if you are starting a small business, you need help with. For many small businesses that first step is very important, and simple advice on what to do next is something that they often lack. That can cause them to fail.

I was able 2½ weeks ago to speak to a number of the business mentors who assist small businesses on the Central Coast. These small business mentors are people who have had vast experience in businesses but who are now often retired and are able to give back to small business because they know the importance that it plays in the economy of the Central Coast. They know that people on the Central Coast look to small business to provide employment, opportunity and a future for the Central Coast.

The Rudd government cares about small business. The best thing that a government can do for small business is to make sure that they ease the burden of regulation that often bogs down businesses as they try to compete and try to get set up. One of the things that this government has done is to review over 27 separate bits of regulation so that it is a lot easier for a business to get going and to compete. I was proud to be there at the launch of the Business Enterprise Centre on the Central Coast. Small business plays a vital role in our economy. Everyone who is involved in small business should be proud of the job that they are doing.