Small Business Roundtable

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (14:28): My question is to the Minister for Investment and Trade. Can the minister advise the house on the outcome of the most recent Small Business Roundtable?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:28): I thank the member for Elder for her question, because the Small Business Roundtable was established by the government in September last year with my colleague the Treasurer and Minister for Small Business co-hosting the forum with me as Minister for Investment and Trade.

Around 34 business and industry groups attend these sessions and today I hosted the fourth roundtable. It was an opportunity for the government to explain recent reforms to the return-to-work agency, initiatives in red tape reduction, proposed planning reforms, changes to industry participation guidelines and building export partnerships. More importantly, it was an opportunity to listen to these organisations and their concerns on behalf of their members.

I can report that the reaction to the changes the government has made to reform what was known as WorkCover have been very well received indeed. The reduction in levies has had a noted impact on businesses, with an estimated $180 million being added to business bottom lines. I thank the Deputy Premier for his attendance at the roundtable this morning, where we heard that premiums were already falling amongst membership in small business organisations.

There was also a presentation from the co-owner of an Adelaide winery on the capacity to grow business and jobs through exports. The company, based near McLaren Vale, has increased its revenue by 270 per cent over the last four years. It has gone from being a domestic supplier only to a company that now sells 36 per cent of its product to China. That is currently worth $3 million a year, and growing, and, as a result, the number of employees at the winery is growing.

I can also add that the company's representative in China is an international student graduate of Adelaide University's wine business course, a Chinese-born Australian fluent in Mandarin. She has gone from being a Chinese local studying in Adelaide to an effective representative in China, employed by a South Australian business.

The business is one of many associated with the Export Partnership grants program offered by the state government. We have recently added another 20 businesses to that list, with more than $440,000 worth of approved grants arranged in recent days. The round table is an open dialogue with small business leaders and will reconvene in February for its fifth meeting.

I can assure the house that, once again, the state government will be listening to small business, which we recognise is creating the jobs for the future in this economy. As we act to assist small business to promote their activities, that will add to job opportunities for South Australians in South Australia, and the state government will continue to play its role in the transformation underway across the state and also across the nation.