Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's the private sector and small business, not government, that is the biggest employer of Australians. Australian small businesses employ more than one million people and add $500 billion to the national GDP. Most small businesses have a turnover of less than $2 million, and casuals and women are significant participants in small business. In fact, there's a one-in-three chance that the small business you get your product or service from is run by a woman. As a former small-business operator who took the initiative to start a small business some 25 years ago, I know that. Personal experience goes a long way to having credibility to speak on matters in this place, and I've backed it up with experience in small and big business and with relevant professional and academic qualifications. I know firsthand the responsibility that comes with being an employer of people, and the importance of reducing red tape and reducing government interference. Evidence suggests it will be women who will be affected by this Labor government's policies that contradict those things. I will be following closely the Labor government's so-called 3,000 real jobs, with 'proper wages and decent conditions' for remote Indigenous communities. It's a $700 million commitment, and, yet again, it's light on detail.

I refer to Aboriginal businesses in my home state of South Australia going gangbusters: Intract Indigenous Contractors has 100 Aboriginal employees and a new $100 million mining contract; Walga Mining, in Whyalla, is led by a female CEO who's local; and Wiltja Constructions is a general builder and repairs and maintenance provider with, again, a woman at the helm. They are profitable businesses and respected leaders delivering real results and real jobs. They are the provider of real jobs. Labor and the Australian Greens would do well to support their efforts and get out of their way.