Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As other speakers have done before in making a contribution to the adjournment debate, I want to record my condolences to the family of Phillip Hughes and, in fact, for the entire cricketing community. It is a very sad loss and one that has been felt most keenly around Australia and in this place. We express our hopes for Sean Abbott, who I am sure is going through a very difficult time in his life right now.

I want to make a contribution to the adjournment debate about the G20 summit that was held in my electorate of Griffith recently. I specifically want to thank the residents and the businesses in South Brisbane and West End for their patience during the summit. An event of this size obviously brings with it considerable inconvenience for those in the local area. A lot of the local businesses have let me know that they were significantly affected by the disruption. In fact, a lot of the business in the local South Brisbane and West End area started to see some drop-off in trade from October, when the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre car park was closed. Some of the restaurants had group bookings cancelled and some businesses actually closed their doors in the lead-up to and during the G20. Those who did stay open over that period of the G20 weekend saw their businesses affected. The turnover for some was down by up to 60 per cent. Of course, that has a massive effect on the cash flow of local businesses, who still have to pay suppliers, rent and utilities. I was told that some of the businesses reduced the staff they had on duty during the period. In an area where a lot of local people are employed in small businesses that has a flow-on effect for the ability of those locals to patronise other local businesses.

Businesses were led to believe that they would see an upturn in trade over the G20 weekend, but unfortunately the local information that was distributed in the lead-up to the summit was more about the inconvenience that people would encounter by going into the area. The road closures and the impacts on public transport had the effect of people deciding to stay away from the inner city and from South Brisbane and West End. It was not really until a week out from the summit that the Premier, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane and Brisbane Marketing finally got the message out that people were welcome in South Brisbane during the event.

It is very disappointing, and businesses are now saying that they felt that they were ignored. I want to encourage people to patronise those local businesses. If you are in Brisbane, and particularly if you are a local on the south side of Brisbane in my electorate of Griffith, please go out and support South Bank, South Brisbane and West End businesses. There has been a lot of support here this week for the shopsmall campaign, and the member for Parramatta organised Parliamentary Friends of Australian Fashion Week to promote local designers to encourage people to shop small. It is very true that there are some fantastic local designers and boutiques in my electorate of Griffith. I participated in Parliamentary Friends of the Australian Fashion Week, wearing a dress from a local boutique called Suki, which is run by a woman who also lives in the electorate and whom I know.

That is a very important part of shopping small, but I wanted to remind everyone of some of the other great local small businesses on the south side—some of which did it quite tough during G20 weekend. We have some of the best restaurants and cafes and bars in Brisbane. There are certainly too many to list them all, but there are some great places like Era Bistro, Archive, Loft and the newly opened Charming Squire—the charmingly named Charming Squire. I would suggest there are plenty of venues for Christmas celebrations, a nice meal with a family member or a beverage after work or on the weekend. Or people might like visit Peter and Maria at the Swiss Gourmet Delicatessen for a coffee and some absolutely delicious cannoli—I can say that from firsthand experience. I do encourage locals and visitors alike to get out and support those local South Brisbane, South Bank and West End businesses. It is hugely important.

We wonder what the benefits of the G20 summit will be. Obviously, it was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the local area to the world but, more broadly, we are all waiting to see what impact the G20 leaders' summit had on our nation and the benefits we might obtain. I certainly hope that we see those benefits. (Time expired)