Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Local consultation is at the heart of my mission to help make the electorate of Fisher the place to be for education, employment and retirement. There's no better way to find out what local people care about than to go to where they are—their businesses—and gather feedback face to face. During July, I held listening posts in Wurtulla, Glass House Mountains, Caloundra, Maleny, Mooloolaba and Minyama. Local people spoke about the need to deliver lower electricity prices. They spoke about the importance of reducing red tape and about delivering the telecommunications infrastructure that we need on the Sunshine Coast and in its hinterland.

I will be working on all of these issues during the remainder of the year. I held information sessions on the government's Stronger Communities Program at Beerwah CWA Hall, Caloundra CCSA Hall, Maleny RSL, Lake Kawana Community Centre and Mooloolaba Bowls Club. This program is fantastic. It's a great opportunity to give a much needed boost to some of our local hard-working community groups. I was delighted to see so many groups getting involved in Fisher, and I look forward to supporting their applications for funding.

Finally, I embarked on a small business road trip. Over four days I visited Glass House Mountains, Beerwah Currimundi, Mooloolah, Mooloolaba and Caloundra and spoke to business owners about how we can create more jobs on the Sunshine Coast. This year, 20,000 local small businesses have begun to benefit from lower taxes, more straightforward paperwork and an extension of the $20,000 instant asset write-off under the Turnbull government's policies for growth. The dividends of these policies are already flowing to the community, with more Australians employed today than ever before.

In particular, my road trip gave me the opportunity to speak to local businesses about what the instant asset write-off can mean for them. But I also saw what is already being achieved locally through this policy. In Caloundra, there's a fantastic small business by the name of My Teddy. Chris and Toni Nightingale's business creates customised teddy bears. My Teddy is growing fast, and they were able to grow their business by the use of the instant asset write-off. In Chris's own words: 'This opportunity has resulted in us being able to buy much-needed equipment to boost our production. Not only has this resulted in cost savings; it supported the exponential growth of our business and meant that we've been able to employ more locals.' I want to thank Chris and Toni, and everyone who spoke to me during my winter blitz. Their feedback will form the core of my work in parliament over the months to come.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If no member present objects, three-minute constituency statements may continue for a total of 45 minutes.