Page 3792 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 8 November 1994
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AUSINDUSTRY - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Ministerial Statement
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I ask for leave of the Assembly to make a ministerial statement on the AusIndustry memorandum of understanding.
Leave granted.
MS FOLLETT: I thank members. Madam Speaker, at the meeting of the Industry, Technology and Regional Development Council in Perth on 28 October I signed a memorandum of understanding on AusIndustry, together with Ministers for Industry of all States and the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. I wish to outline for members the purpose and benefits of the AusIndustry initiative, the setting in the ACT for this development, and the further steps in AusIndustry's implementation.
AusIndustry is one of the key industry assistance initiatives of the Commonwealth Government's May white paper on employment and growth, Working Nation. It aims to improve and to streamline access to business improvement programs. The Commonwealth's wide-ranging programs are run by a number of departments. States and Territories provide other enterprise development and improvement programs. Businesses throughout Australia currently experience difficulty in finding out which, if any, of the assistance programs available may be applicable to their needs. This reduces the impact of programs and frustrates and potentially restricts the development of individual businesses. Under AusIndustry, businesses will be able to receive, at one point, information and advice on enterprise improvement programs and a flexible response to their needs.
Madam Speaker, small to medium businesses are a driving force for future growth in the ACT. Our economic climate is conducive to business growth. Our businesses are among the best in Australia. Only last week an ACT company won a national award when Amalgamated Business Machines received the Australian Quality Award for small enterprises. Amalgamated Business Machines is a computer services company which has been operating in the ACT for 11 years. It was the winner of the Quality Management-Best Practice Award in the 1994 ACT Small Business Awards. Other examples of the competitiveness and recognition of ACT firms nationally include the recent high commendation of Instyle Indoor Plant Hire at the National Small Business Awards and the success of CEA Technologies in becoming Australian Small Business of the Year in 1991. In addition, there are increasing numbers of ACT firms gaining national and international contracts for the provision of goods and services.
Whilst recognising that success lies largely in the hands of businesses themselves, the Government has implemented a range of measures to help firms. In particular, through our Business Services Centre, new and growing small businesses have available a suite of services. These include information and advisory services and seminars for new businesses, a consultation service for new and existing businesses, and information on regulatory requirements through the business licence information service.
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