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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-09-26 Daily Xml
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Telstra Best of Business Awards

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (14:30): My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business. Can the minister please update the house on the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards?

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:30): Thank you to the member for Elder for her question—noting that one of the winners is actually in your beautiful electorate. The Telstra Best of Business Awards are a great occasion to showcase the innovation, excellence and outstanding contributions made by the South Australian business community. This year's state winners show us that success isn't just about business profit or growth, although they are key, but this year's winners demonstrate they are about making a real difference to our community, health and the environment.

For example, the Barossa Veterinary Service was a winner in the Building Communities category. They take care of over 14,000 animals across three locations, showcasing their commitment and support to the region. There is MAC Trade Services, who claimed both the Embracing Innovation and Promoting Sustainability awards. They are at the forefront of helping businesses and homes transition to clean energy solutions, helping communities lower their carbon footprint.

Rainy Day Recruitment—which is located in Tonsley in the member for Elder's electorate—took home the award for Indigenous Excellence, offering personalised, ethical and transparent recruitment services in IT, engineering and professional roles. MyVenue are developers of cutting-edge point of sale software for iconic sports venues right around the world, and they won the award for Outstanding Growth. Adelaide Mums and Babies Clinic earned the Accelerating Women award for offering expert care in breastfeeding, paediatrics and women's health.

I want to highlight one particular winner, Bellberry, who took out the Championing Health award. This great local company provides high-quality efficient, ethical and scientific reviews of human research in Australia, which is a really critical component of advancing medical science. Bellberry has been around for 20 years; in fact, I believe the Premier might have been at their 20-year anniversary last month.

Over the last two decades, Bellberry has built a community of over 200 professionals who have supported more than ten and a half thousand clinical trial studies at 1,400 sites across the country. It makes them the largest reviewer of human research in the country, with custodianship of over 40 per cent of Australia's clinical trials—all from South Australia. But their influence doesn't just stop there. More than half of new therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been reviewed by Bellberry's committees during their development, and that is an absolutely huge achievement for a South Australian business.

What is truly remarkable is their dedication to reinvesting back into the research community. In fact, they have donated over $12 million of surplus revenue to Australian Medical Research, and that's the kind of contribution that doesn't just benefit South Australia but actually has a global impact. Bellberry's story speaks to the importance of creating an environment where businesses can thrive. It also highlights that our state continues to punch well above its weight in business excellence in many different sectors.

Those of us on this side of the house are continually committed to supporting South Australian businesses. Of course, Mr Speaker, you are aware of our $14 million Small Business Strategy through which we are ensuring businesses have the tools and support that they need to grow and to succeed. We have the Small Business Fundamentals Program, where we have had over 2,300 participants receive mentorship, training and coaching to build essential business skills.

Our Sustainability Support Program is helping businesses assess their environmental impact and become more energy efficient, and this is particularly crucial to businesses facing rising energy costs. To further assist this, we have launched round 2 of the Economic Recovery Fund, providing grants of up to $50,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits looking to invest in energy-saving technologies and equipment. Once again, I want to congratulate all our state winners of the Telstra Best of Business Awards.

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