Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 2018 Blue Mountains Business Awards showcase the amazing entrepreneurs and talent in my local community. It takes a huge amount of effort on top of your day job to put your business forward for an award. Congratulations to every finalist and winner, including Rubyfruit, which won the Harry Hammon Regional Business of the Year award and the sustainability prize and was inducted into the hall of fame, and Ask Roz, which was similarly inducted into the hall of fame and took home the Excellence in Innovation award.

I was in business for 25 years before coming to this place and have been a proud sponsor of these awards for several years. This year I sponsored the new Home Based Business Award category, which recognises the special mix of challenges involved in setting up and running a business from home, like being taken seriously with a phone number that begins with 47, not 92; the discipline of sitting at the desk when there's a pile of washing waiting down the hall; and, equally, the discipline of not sitting at the desk when there's work to do but family life should probably get a bit of a look in. So I want to make special mention of the winners of this category: Alicia Windeisen, whose business, Conveyancing Smart, was highly commended. Alicia is a businesswoman who runs a business—with four children, including twin babies. Illuminart were the category winner. They are a network of artists who design, create and present interactive and innovative illuminated and moving image art for public spaces. Congratulations on your hard work that makes these big ideas flourish.