Sunshine Wood:
A thousand lives have been lost in the tragedy on the Nepalese border with Tibet last week. Now, Australia’s federal Minister for International Affairs is here in Tasmania this week with solidarity with our Nepalese community. She also hosted a small business roundtable here in Launceston yesterday and met with a number of local businesses to see how things are going. Welcome to the federal minister, Anne Aly, who’s here in the studio with me right now.
Anne Aly:
Thank you. Good morning.
Home:
Good morning. So, welcome to Tasmania. You’ve been here a couple of days now. What have you been up to? We know about the round table.
Aly:
Yes, I arrived yesterday morning. But we’ve done a number of visits with businesses in Tasmania, here in Launceston, went to Waverley Mills yesterday, absolutely amazing. What a great place to visit, but what a great legacy and a great history for this area. Of course, yesterday I visited some other small businesses and held the roundtable, as you mentioned, but also took the opportunity while here to meet with the local Nepalese community, to show some solidarity with them during this trying time and challenging period, but also to have a look at how we might be able to support them as well.
Wood:
We’ll start with the roundtable. What were some of the repeated issues that came up?
Aly:
Quite a few, actually. First of all, I really want to thank all of the small businesses who attended. I’ve run businesses myself and I know that when you’re running a business, you get so caught up in the running of the business that it’s difficult to take time out, even time out just for yourself, even a bit of a break for yourself.
So, some of the issues were around the cost of doing business, particularly around freight costs here in Tasmania. Some of the businesses were explaining to me how nonsensical it was, the freight costs, to be quite honest with you, of bringing in the kinds of equipment they need to be able to operate. So, the costs of doing business was a big one, also, retail tenancies as well and I guess some guardrails around landlords and what they’re able to do, and just on that, we are holding consultation into retail tenancies.
A young fellow who was there, a tradie in construction, raised a very important issue and one that I’ve been hearing right across the board, which is business literacy, particularly for young people getting into business, understanding that when you run a business, all the other things that you need to know when you start a business, you’re not just the person who runs the business, you’re the accountant, you’re the HR manager, you’re the tax accountant, you’re everything.
And understanding what running a business entails and it’s a really important one, particularly for our tradies. A lot of people who are working in trades, whether it’s in plumbing or sparkies or carpentry, will end up setting up as a contractor or sole trader. And being able to understand everything that entails is an issue as well. Access to the workforce is a real issue, but essentially the biggest one is the cost of doing business and how much that impacts on margins.
Wood:
And you did mention that you have been with our Launceston Nepalese community as well. How’s everyone feeling? And, what you just mentioned before, what can we do to help?
Aly:
Oh, look, I think people are feeling really stressed at the moment. They’re on edge, heartbroken. Helpless, I think, is another word that we could use there as well. I was just really grateful to the Nepalese community for being able to come and talk to me frankly and express their needs and express what they’re going through and their feelings. I do also want to say that to date, Australians have donated around $3.5 million to the Emergency Action Alliance, which demonstrates just the generosity of Australians, but also their empathy and how much we care for our humanity and the humanity of others.
They’re feeling particularly stressed and I think the way to help if you’re feeling that you want to do something, you can donate to the Emergency Action appeal, or just reach out and let them know that you’re thinking of them. Let them know that you’re there with them in solidarity. Mental health is a big issue, of course, particularly as you can understand when people are going through times like this, being able to access mental health that is culturally and linguistically appropriate is an issue as well.
Wood:
Now, we both found out that we’re both from Western Australia.
Aly:
We are.
Wood:
We saw One Nation win another by‑election just on the weekend. Were you surprised at that result? Do you think we’re going to see more of it?
Aly:
Oh, look, I don’t know if we’re going to see more of it, but it certainly put everyone on notice. I think by‑elections are hard to win. People kind of accept that. I think the scale of the result puts everyone on notice. Both major parties have been put on notice with this one, and it just drives home that you don’t take anything for granted. We’ll keep working as hard as we can and keep doing everything that we can to ease cost‑of‑living pressures on people to make a real change and a real impact on their lives.
Whether that’s through access to free health care, when and where people need it, whether that’s through lowering the cost of medications as we have, whether that’s through education, in fully funding public schools, whether that’s through increasing the minimum wage, whether that’s through tax breaks, through the number of things that we’ve done and continue to do.
Wood:
So, finally, the Tasmanian Government, they wrote to the PM just 2 weeks ago asking for funding for Bell Bay Aluminium. Can we expect an announcement?
Aly:
Well, I think at this stage the Tasmanian government has complete control over the supply of the electricity for the Tasmanian industry. That’s the low‑cost renewable electricity through Hydro Tasmania, and that’s where that agreement is with Bell Bay Aluminium. So, I think it’s up to the state government, the Tasmanian Government, to use all the levers at its disposal at this stage to support its industries, and that includes Bell Bay.
Wood:
Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.
Aly:
Thank you.