Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's Queensland Small Business Week. I enjoy celebrating the achievements of small businesses in Bonner. Coming from a small business background myself, I also enjoy helping local small businesses grow and stay competitive. Today, I want to talk about how this government is delivering for small business. I'd also like to shine a spotlight on the local small businesses and small business groups that I've been working with this year. I thank the government for extending the $20,000 instant write-off again. Over 3,200 small businesses in Bonner have benefitted from this measure since it was first introduced. Small-business owners have told me how helpful the instant asset write-off has been for them to purchase much-needed equipment.

We're also continuing to cut red tape for small businesses and individuals—to the tune of $5.9 billion since 2013. The latest Annual regulatory reform report shows the regulatory burden on business was reduced by over $800 million from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2017. I have been pleased to share this great news with small businesses all over Bonner.

The 2018 Brisbane Small Business Expo recently rolled through Mount Gravatt. There were over 230 trade tables showcasing small businesses from across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Logan regions. It was great to have the small-business minister there. We chatted with hardworking small-business owners who told us how the measures had helped them. I'm proud to have helped bring the expo to Brisbane for the first time in its seven-year history. It was great to have an event like this in Bonner that recognises the outstanding contribution small businesses make to our community and gives them the opportunity to network and learn other ways to bolster their business. Thanks to expo organiser Paula Brand for her hardworking attitude and for making this event happen.

I have also shared the good budget news with the local small businesses all over Bonner. In the last few months, I have been on almost 10 small-business walks. These walks are some of my favourite ways to engage with local business communities. I've been everywhere from the Wynnum CBD and Mayfair Village to the strips and plazas along Logan Road in Mount Gravatt, going from shop to shop chatting with small-business owners about what matters to them most. It's been great chatting with the hardworking people at Stavlos Barn Deli Café in Belmont, at Rod's Meatery at the Gumdale shops on New Cleveland Road, at the Move Podiatry Clinic in Manly, at the Flour Monkey Bakery in Carina, at Gilmour's Comfort Shoes at Palmdale Shopping Centre in Upper Mount Gravatt, and so many more.

I'm proud to be part of a government that is backing these small businesses. The coalition will always support small business to grow and create more jobs. We understand that, when small businesses are given room to grow and to employ more people and pay them better wages, we will all benefit. I look forward to delivering more for the small businesses of Bonner. I'm looking forward to returning home and hitting the pavement again to talk to more small business owners about what this government can do for them.