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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-20 Daily Xml
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FAMILY BUSINESSES

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (14:58): My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Can the minister outline how many of the 11 recommendations from the Thinker in Residence report, 'The future of family business in South Australia', by Dr Dennis Jaffe, have actually been implemented, and what is the total budget for the minister's department that has been allocated to support the 50,000 family businesses in South Australia?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:58): This government stands by and supports family businesses.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I grew up in a family that had a mortgaged house to run a small business. I know what small businesses go through. I know that the most important thing we can give small businesses is fairness. What we have done as a government is to go out and give those small businesses some equity and fairness. We have given them the Office of the Small Business Commissioner.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The Office of the Small Business Commissioner—

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, Madam Speaker. Standing order 98: relevance. My question was very specific: how many of the 11 recommendations—

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

Mr MARSHALL: —from your government's Thinker in Residence report—

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Norwood—

Mr MARSHALL: —have you actually implemented?

The SPEAKER: —you have asked your question. There is no point of order. What the minister is talking about is relevant to the question. The minister can answer how he chooses.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This government has nailed its colours to the mast on small business. We stand—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: There are 142,000 small businesses in this state; many of them are family businesses. Many of them have to deal with unfair and predatory practices and they had no voice. This government has given them a voice, and who voted against that voice?

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order: 98, relevance. My question was: how many of the 11 recommendations of your own government report have you actually implemented?

Honourable members: None!

The SPEAKER: Order! I have already ruled on that. Minister, continue your answer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: First of all, that's not true, and you know it's not true.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Norwood and the Minister for Trade will not shout at each other like that across the floor!

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Madam Speaker, I do not want to get emotional, because when I get emotional I make mistakes. You make mistakes when you get emotional, and I do not want to get emotional. The truth is this that this government has nailed its colours to the mast.

Mr Marshall: How many recommendations—

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Norwood, leave the chamber for the rest of question time!

Mr Marshall: Hopeless!

The honourable member for Norwood having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Coward!

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order: I believe the word 'coward', directed to the member across the chamber, is unparliamentary. I ask that the minister withdraw and apologise.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I did not hear the minister say that. Minister, did you say 'coward'?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Madam Speaker, I responded, I regret it, I withdraw.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order: in defence, I do report that on being evicted the member for Norwood yelled 'hopeless'. I hope he wasn't reflecting on you, but he certainly provoked a response from our member.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. He has gone now. Minister, would you please complete your answer?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, Madam Speaker. This government has nailed its colours to the mast on small business. We are standing up—

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Morialta, you can go too for the rest of question time.

The honourable member for Morialta having withdrawn form the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This government is formulating an advanced manufacturing strategy. Previously, the member for Norwood asked the government: how many of the recommendations of the Thinker in Residence report by Göran Roos are we implementing? We went a step better: we have asked him to develop our advanced manufacturing strategy. While we are developing our advanced manufacturing strategy, it is also prudent to redevelop your small business strategy. On top of that, we introduced an Office of the Small Business Commissioner, an advocate for small businesses. He will bring in codes of conduct—

Mrs REDMOND: Point of order: I think the minister may be confused. He was asked about the report of Dr Dennis Jaffe, not Göran Roos, and he is responding on the report of Göran Roos.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: 'Jaffe', actually, but never mind.

The SPEAKER: Minister, get back to the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This government has outpaced and outwitted the opposition on small business since the last election.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order: the minister is debating the answer and, also, there is no relevance to the question in anything he has said in his rant so far.

The SPEAKER: I have pointed out on many occasions that if it is related to the question it is relevant. They can answer how they choose.

Mr WILLIAMS: But, Madam Speaker, that is the point; it is not related to the question. The question was specifically: how many of the recommendations, the 11 recommendations? Was it one, two, three, or zero?

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Sit down! Minister.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The cornerstone of this government's small business policy is the Office of the Small Business Commissioner. We have stood by and given them equity, given them a voice. The NTA, the Council of Small Business Australia, the Farmers Federation, those bastions of hotbeds of socialism, backed this government. Only two groups opposed our reforms: the Franchise Council of Australia and the Liberal Party. Even the newsagents stood by us on the Office of the Small Business Commissioner. They know that the best policies for small businesses are advocacy and a fair playing field, and that is what we have given them, and you have walked away from them.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mount Gambier.

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