Dawn Walker, federal Greens candidate for Richmond
This week Matthew Fraser ‘counter challenged’ me in the local press on the Greens policy for creating jobs.
I welcome this question. As a small-business operator and former small-business policy adviser I am committed to supporting our local small business community here in Richmond and across the nation. Small business is the lifeblood of our economy with over two million small businesses in Australia, employing over seven million people, representing over 60 per cent of our workforce.
I have spent much of my working life as a policy adviser on small business matters and looking at ways to reduce red tape for small business so they can thrive and prosper. When small business does well, its community does well – with local jobs, locally manufactured products and a sense of community working and supporting each other.
Large overseas-funded industries such as fossil-fuel mining have a negative effect on these smaller businesses, especially local manufacturing, by driving up the Australian dollar and making export of Australian-made products nigh impossible. Our local surfboard manufacturers have really struggled in the past few years to compete in the export markets. Once manufacturing jobs go offshore, they don’t return to Australia.
The Greens refuse to risk our country’s future. We recognise that a diverse, creative and resilient economy is the guarantee we need for a prosperous society beyond the resources boom.
I look forward to debating Matthew Fraser on this important issue during the election campaign.
