MESSENGER LOCAL BUSINESS AWARDS

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (15:21): Small businesses, owned and operated by an individual, family or partnerships, are the lifeblood of a thriving community. They are, in all their quirky and idiosyncratic varieties, in large part what distinguishes one place from any other—that make Port Adelaide different from Burnside, Adelaide different from Melbourne. They are the expression of the local community, meeting the needs of that community and reflecting the history, culture and environment of that community: and they are, almost more importantly than anything else, a major employer in every community.

I wish to pay tribute to Messenger Newspapers for its annual Local Business Awards. The Messenger, with the support of sponsors Bendigo Bank and SafeWork SA, has been able to create an award program that recognises and celebrates the value customers place on the merits of their local businesses. Before I turn to congratulating the individual businesses who were celebrated in this year's awards, I would like to place on record my observation that the awards night is a rare occasion for small business owners to spend time with other business people and to congratulate themselves and each other on their efforts and successes. I know that for most small businesses the hours are long and the chances to let your hair down few and, on that account alone, the Messenger deserves commendation for providing such an opportunity.

The boundaries of my electorate are frequently the topic of conversation and some puzzlement in my community. While, naturally, I accept the ruling of the umpire, it is difficult to explain to people from Semaphore, Ethelton, Birkenhead, Newport and Alberton that they are not part of Port Adelaide—electorally speaking, anyway. There were finalists and award winners from those areas whom I felt pride in but strictly cannot claim to be Port Adelaide electorate businesses. I note only that the boundary of the community is not always the same as an electoral boundary.

I can, however, wholeheartedly congratulate finalists from Port Adelaide. They are Soho Homewares (a near neighbour of my office on Lipson Street in Port Adelaide), Carmine's Restaurant, and Jetset from Port Adelaide. From Parafield Gardens there was Nationwide Finance and from Mawson Lakes there was Fresh Hair and Body, Jazz It Up Home and Giftware, Mawson Lakes Gourmet Meats, Rob's Aroma Express, Caffe Primo Mawson Lakes, La Vita Fresh Pasta, Chemplus Mawson Lakes and Mawson Lakes Dog Grooming.

I congratulate the winners in their categories from the Port Adelaide electorate. They are Mark Lobert Gallery (again, a near neighbour of my office on Lipson Street), Newport Digital (established in Todd Street in Port Adelaide), Blush Boutique in Goodall Parade in Mawson Lakes, Reflections of India on Light Common in Mawson Lakes, Vets4Pets at the Mawson Lakes Veterinary Hospital on Main Street and Ajile Focus (located in Innovation House in Mawson Lakes). I am delighted that these businesses have received the recognition they richly deserve.