Understanding Opportunities for Small Business

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:46): My question is to the Minister for Automotive Transformation. Can the minister inform the chamber about the Understanding Opportunities for Small Business event that was held yesterday at the Stretton Centre and its role in the Northern Economic Plan?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in this area of creating jobs for business and in northern Adelaide.

Members would be aware of the Northern Economic Plan, a plan to increase support to industries and to create jobs to soften the impact of the end of manufacturing at Holden in 2017. The Northern Economic Plan was launched at Bickford's, where nearly 500 people came to hear from the Premier, Professor Barbara Pocock, Angelo Costas from Bickford's, and the chair of the Economic Development Board, Raymond Spencer, about the importance of supporting the north, both economically and socially.

I was pleased to see such a wide range of people representing different organisations at the launch. From leaders in local government to industry and the community sector, it was clear that everyone in the room was committed to doing what they could to support northern Adelaide. I have since received strong feedback from many members of the community in the north, local businesses and those who work in the community sector.

Supporting small business is a core part of the Northern Economic Plan, and yesterday's Understanding Opportunities for Small Business event at the Stretton Centre was a good example of that. The Stretton Centre is an innovation centre that is working to accelerate the transformation of the northern economy. It was founded by the City of Playford, the University of Adelaide, through its Australian Workplace and Innovation and Social Research Centre, and Renewal SA.

Again, like the Northern Economic Plan, it is a good example of the benefits of working together towards a common goal. Members of the small business community were yesterday able to learn more about the plan, find out what the Stretton Centre can offer them and explore opportunities to grow their businesses through a variety of programs that can help them ensure their business reaches its full potential.

Around 80 businesses and people with interest in the north attended to take advantage of this session. It was also a great networking opportunity, allowing people to connect with others to explore opportunities to grow their business and hear from Michael Shuman, an international leader in the field of economic development, who spoke about the importance of collaboration.

Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and a globally recognised expert on community economics. He is also an adjunct instructor in community economic development for Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Mr Shuman is currently Director of Community Portals for Mission Markets and a Fellow at Cutting Edge Capital and Post-Carbon Institute. The event yesterday at the Stretton Centre in the City of Playford was a great example of the support being provided to small business in the north. All three councils in the north have dedicated significant resources to supporting small business.

The Polaris Centre in Mawson Lakes is an example of the work being undertaken in the Salisbury council area to assist small business. The Polaris Centre runs regular networking events as well as digital workshops and events. The Polaris Centre has a number of programs, including the Mentoring for Success program, which has helped over 140 businesses, and its Digital Growth Program, which can provide assistance with online marketing and social media. These practical programs go a long way to supporting small business in the Salisbury council area.

The Adelaide Business Hub in the heart of Port Adelaide provides a number of services to businesses, including consulting and training services and a business incubation program. The hub has evolved from the business advisory service in the 1990s to a not-for-profit entity that has three main focuses: its award-winning Todd Street Business Incubator program, consulting and training services, and businesses and economic development projects for all levels of government and the corporate sector.

Mondays at the Adelaide Business Hub is Free Hub Monday, allowing small business owners to come in and get a free taste of the services on offer. On Fridays, the hub has Seniorpreneur Friday, dedicated to supporting senior entrepreneurs.

Both of these centres have regular sessions on topics such as business fundamentals, mastering your business, and business solutions. The Adelaide Business Hub can be found at its website, adelaidebusinesshub.com.au, and the Polaris Centre at polariscentre.com.au. With the success of yesterday's event at the Stretton Centre, I know that similar events are looking to be run at both the Adelaide Business Hub in Port Adelaide and the Polaris Centre at Mawson Lakes.

As I previously indicated, the Northern Economic Plan is a significant document that sets the path forward for northern Adelaide. It's a joint partnership between the state government and the northern councils and was informed by industry leaders and communities working together to achieve more than any one of those groups could by themselves. I am pleased to say that I continue to work closely with the mayors of those councils. I regularly speak to all the mayors and will be meeting them again in the near future to discuss the next steps for the plan.

As I have previously informed the chamber, the Northern Economic Plan sets the direction for transitioning northern Adelaide into a diverse and resilient economy. By working together with other tiers of government, the business community, the education and research sector and the community sector. We are investing in growth sectors and looking at ways to make it easier for businesses to grow and create jobs.

The development of the Northern Economic Plan, including the ambition of increasing employment in northern Adelaide by 15,000 by 2025, was done in conjunction with the plan partners. I am also advised that the development of the plan, including this target, was discussed at numerous meetings of high-level officials from the partner councils and the state government, with the final version of the plan that included more than $24 million of new spending initiatives being approved by the state government.

The plan, including the jobs target, has the strong support of the three councils and myself. I have spoken to each of the mayors over the last week and we will be meeting again soon, as I have outlined. I've got to say that the leadership shown by the mayors has been first class, and equally impressive has been the hard work from the council staff and state government officials who helped to develop the plan.

The plan continues to be supported by the three councils and the state government. It is to benefit the whole of the northern regions and everyone involved. It is pleasing to see that everyone has put aside their differences and are working together, because we know that supporting the north as a region will require a lot of hard work if it is to prosper. The state government and the local councils will continue to work together to implement this plan.

We are committed to creating jobs. We are committed to working with local councils and businesses, but we also know that anything we do has to be flexible enough to keep pace with changing conditions to make sure that we provide support as and when it is needed. We are also doing this with our Automotive Workers in Transition Program and our Automotive Supplier Diversification Program.

We continue to reform and improve our Automotive Workers in Transition Program to make the services easier to access and have made the program available to spouses of auto workers, recognising that the closure of Holden will affect whole families, not just individuals. We have also made the Automotive Supplier Diversification Program easier to access for companies wanting to diversify by changing the exposure to the closure of the car manufacturing industry from 20 per cent down to any exposure at all.

As we have already talked about, the launch of the Northern Economic Plan included over $24 million worth of new initiatives, and I am pleased to be able to say that I will be able in the coming weeks to speak more about some of those particular initiatives.