Small Business Development Fund

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:10): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Can the minister advise the house on the outcomes of the first 12 months of the Small Business Development Fund program?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:10): I thank the member for Little Para for the question. There are a lot of small businesses in his electorate, and that is why am happy to announce to the house the outcomes for the first 12 months of the Small Business Development Fund, a $10 million program, which this government implemented in 2016 to help small business in the north of Adelaide grow and to create jobs.

As at 31 May this year, 276 applications have been received over six funding rounds. Round 7 was assessed on 1 June 2017; however, recipients cannot be announced publicly until the funding agreements are executed. Ninety-two grants have been approved for a total of $4,053 million, supporting the creation of 305 full-time equivalent positions. The breakdown across the two funding components are as follows: 42 start-up business grants, which are grants of up to $20,000 and are available to new businesses on a one-for-one matched funding basis. They have been approved, totalling $705,000.

Fifty business expansion grants have been approved. These are between $10,000 and $100,000 and are available on a one-for-one matched funding basis. We have approved an amount totalling $3,348,000 for such grants. There is one start-up story I would particularly like to mention. The Confident Kids Childcare and Early Learning Centre—in your electorate, Mr Speaker—received a $20,000 grant in round 2. Business commenced trading on 30 January 2017 and has blossomed rapidly, with 14 FTE positions already created.

The SBDF continues to see strong support for stakeholders and is creating hundreds of jobs. The next round of applications will close on 12 July. I look forward to updating the house further in due course because there is one message in all that the government is doing, and that is that it is listening to small business. It wants to support small business either by getting out of the way—in other words, by reducing red tape and regulation—or by providing them with the support they need to prosper and grow. Small business is winning and businesses are successful and profitable. They are hiring, the economy is growing and everyone is a winner.