CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr TED O'BRIEN (Fairfax) (10:16): Too many businesses on the Sunshine Coast are closing. A local business is far more than just a business; it is the sponsor of local footy clubs. They're the ones who pay the salaries to local employees.

They're the ones who do the hard work. Behind all the shopfronts we might see across the Sunshine Coast lies a personal story. It's often the story of an entrepreneur who had an idea.

It's the story of somebody who put their own money at risk to back themselves. It's the story, often, of a family who are trying to pay their own way and get their kids through school so that they can ensure their kids have a future. The story of local business is very much a personal one.

Every single morning there are people right across the Sunshine Coast who are fretting because they don't know if their businesses can survive. They lie awake at night not knowing if they can make payroll. They do not know if their employees will have enough money to put food on the table for their own families.

This is symptomatic of a decline of our national economy, felt on the ground at home in my communities. And then came the Labor Party's last budget—a budget presented at a time of a cost-of-living crisis, where we have the highest level of insolvencies ever seen in this country, and it is a budget that penalises small business. Is it any wonder we are seeing local businesses close their doors?

In my own suburb, you walk down that that strip in Buderim and you see businesses closing. I've heard in the last two weeks of three more businesses with shopfronts all going to close. This is what is happening to local communities right across this country, and this government is showing absolute disregard for small business.

It's why, on 8 July, I will host an 'Understanding the Budget' forum, so local businesses on the Sunshine Coast in my area of Fairfax can understand what the Labor Party is doing to them. It will be held at the 10 Toes Brewery. To shift to a different topic: to the Sunshine Coast athletes who are heading to the Commonwealth Games, I assure you that you do not go into that stadium alone.

You have a community that's absolutely backing you. Those athletes have done it tough. They've worked every single morning, getting out of bed when everyone else was sleeping.

They avoided parties so they could get fit for the games. I want to tell you that we are already proud of you. Wear the green and gold with pride and know that the Sunny Coast community is absolutely behind you.