Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As we all know across this chamber small to medium businesses are a very important part of our electorates. In fact, 97.3 per cent of all businesses in Australia, around 2.5 million of them, are small businesses that employ between zero and 19 employees.

As I go and meet those businesses around my electorate, when I'm talking to the owners of those businesses, they frequently tell me about the long days spent working in the business and how very little time gets spent working on the business or building professional networks. Building those professional networks is a vital part of growing your business and engaging with the wider community. That's why our chambers of commerce across our communities are so important and play such a significant role.

I had the pleasure over the past week or so of catching up with both the Logan Chamber of Commerce and the Beenleigh Yatala Chamber of Commerce at their AGMs. On Wednesday last week the Logan Chamber of Commerce held their AGM at Clarks Logan City Bus Service. We heard from Clarks Logan City Bus Service's finance manager, Kaylee Clark. We also heard from Simon Holt, the founder of the local newspaper MyCity Logan. They shared their experiences and insights into adapting to the latest developments in their respective industries.

The AGM was an opportunity to reflect on the chamber's achievements and plan for the future, and the new committee is certainly very focused on achieving that. I want to congratulate the president, Arwen McGregor, the vice-president, Alexis Matthews-Frederick, the treasurer, Krish Ravipati, secretary, Justine Sandry, and general committee members Willem Van Der Merwe, Rhiannon Elton and Janeen Vosper. I thank them for all of their hard work and efforts. They also recognised Stewart Fleming and Reg Clark as life members.

The Beenleigh Yatala Chamber of Commerce held their AGM on Friday, with guest speaker Emily Bitkow talking about the work that Asuria does working with small business to help them grow. Congratulations to the new committee of president, Aki Sihto, vice-president, Shane Drew, treasurer, Heather Christensen, secretary, Kerrie Saverin, and to the general committee members Ronnie Visser, Willem Van Der Merwe, Megan Zwart, Leanne Taylor and John Mulraney. And a special mention to Kerrie Saverin, the outgoing president, for three years of terrific service to the chamber.

I thank both the new committees and the outgoing committees for the tremendous work they do across the community of Logan and into the northern Gold Coast. The work you do with our small business sector is vital and very important, and I look forward to working with you all in the coming 12 months.