Page 1284 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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employees. This is truly a reflection of a government recognising the importance of the people who work so hard for its economic growth.
However, as always, policy is only part of the complete picture. Today I would like to highlight the excellent work the Canberra Business Chamber has been doing throughout this crisis, and the overlapping but equally important work it has done in supporting businesses affected by the bushfires.
The Canberra Business Chamber has been a pivotal part of the business community in Canberra, providing support and advice for businesses throughout the territory, and advocating on their behalf to advance the interests of businesses across Canberra. Recently, however, the Canberra Business Chamber has become more important than ever. While it is important to provide support for businesses in this time of economic uncertainty, it is equally important that businesses are aware of what support is available. (Quorum formed.) To this end, the Canberra Business Chamber has been at the forefront in providing constant support and information to businesses for the past few months, giving updates as new supports become available, as well as reminders of already existing measures.
In addition to government policy, the Canberra Business Chamber has hosted several webinars designed to help small businesses in Canberra come out of the COVID-19 crisis as strongly as possible, including Q&As with relevant policy experts to help business owners navigate stimulus support, new working arrangements and new ways of delivering goods and services. I myself had the opportunity to attend one of these webinars last month, and I found the experience to be extremely informative, as well as highly enjoyable.
The Canberra Business Chamber has been conducting workshops with a long-term vision, teaching businesses how they can continue to run stable and profitable businesses as our immediate crisis situation begins to stabilise. This proactive approach is, in my view, very commendable.
Recently, I also met the members of the Indian and Chinese business communities and I even had the pleasure of being joined, at different times, by the Chief Minister and Minister Steel. We were able to discuss both the immediate and the long-term concerns of these communities and what steps they were taking to ensure they could continue to operate both now and in future. (Extension of time granted.)
In conclusion, I believe that Canberra is very lucky to have such a vibrant local business community. I am proud to have been part of the sustained efforts through the struggle brought about by COVID-19 and the bushfires. It is more important than ever to support our wonderful businesses. I hope that our economy continues to recover and strengthen and that Canberra as a whole continues to show the resilience that it has done to date.
Legislative Assembly—internship
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (5.19): This week marked the conclusion of ANU student Miriam Downey’s internship in my office. Miriam is the third intern I have
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