Family Businesses

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Minister, can you update the house on the achievements of South Australian family businesses?

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:42): I thank the member for Elder for her question and also acknowledge her attendance, in my absence, at the Family Business Australia Hall of Fame dinner. The government, like the member for Elder, recognises the important role that family businesses play in contributing to the overall strength of the South Australian economy. I grew up in a house that was mortgaged to support the family business, so I have seen the stresses, I have seen the barriers, I know the impacts of state taxes and government decisions on those seeking to grow a business, and I know of the need for a positive government backing business.

It is because of the thousands of small businesses and their owners across this state that the government continues to do all it can to help business grow, invest and create jobs, and thanks in no small part to the advocacy of the member for Elder. Our government's most recent budget was all about supporting the great South Australian family businesses that I wish to acknowledge today. At the recent Family Business Australia Hall of Fame dinner, two South Australian family businesses were inducted into the Hall of Fame which exemplified the spirit of family owned and operated enterprises. The Family Business Australia Hall of Fame has been operating—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This is just typical, isn't it? The member for Mitchell attacking the investment and the risk taken by an entrepreneur. It is just typical of their lack of understanding, from someone who has never run a small business. He has never run a small business yet has the gall to get up and attack the member for Elder.

The Family Business Australia Hall of Fame has been operating since 2002 and currently includes 40 South Australian family businesses, such as Beerenberg, Coopers, Phil Hoffmann Travel, Seeley International and San Remo but, alas, not yet the Wokinaboxes owned by the member for Dunstan. The aim of the hall of fame awards is to celebrate the achievements of the family business sector and to acknowledge the critical role family businesses play in supporting the South Australian economy and communities.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: You will have some more time to get to those businesses soon. In 2015, Family Business Hall of Fame inductees announced at the dinner were:

Sar Major Canvas Goods and Trailers—a family-owned business since 1953 manufacturing trailers, camper trailers and a wide variety of PVC and canvas products; and, of course,

D'Arenberg Wines—established in 1912, and is now one of the most significant wineries in McLaren Vale. D'Arenberg currently exports to over 60 countries, with significant market presence in China, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

South Australia must reward the risk takers, the entrepreneurs and the small business owners across the state who seek to carve out a better future for themselves, the community and our state. We must ensure that we do more to ensure that great South Australian businesses can continue to flourish here and across the globe.

I ask all members to join with me in congratulating both the inductees and thank them for their important and unique contribution to the South Australian economy and, most importantly, for the risks they have taken—and, of course, the burden that a lot of their families bear in the stresses of running small businesses. That is why we are doing as much as we can as a government to cut those taxes. While the opposition suggests we cut the taxes of the wealthiest South Australians, we want to cut the taxes of the entrepreneurs, the risk takers, the doers—those who are investing in our economy, not those already wealthy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The members for Davenport, Schubert and Elder are called to order. The member for Mitchell is warned for the first time and the member for Chaffey is warned for the second time.