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- 14 May 2004
Penrith Home-based Business Network
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Page: 9104
Mrs KARYN PALUZZANO (Penrith) [12.35 p.m.]: It gives me pleasure to speak about business in Penrith, particularly home-based business and small-business. Penrith is home to thousands of home-based businesses. In fact, I joined the honourable member for Keira and the Minister for Small Business and Regional Development at an amazing joint meeting of the Penrith and Hawkesbury home-based business networks. I am pleased to report that the Penrith Valley Economic Development Corporation, which runs the Penrith home-based business network, held another "speed dating for business" at Rosehill Gardens during March, when participants were asked to bring at least 250 business cards, meaning they will make contact with at least 250 other home-based businesses on the day.
On the day at Penrith I made sure I had plenty of business cards and met many local business people. One can imagine the amount of new businesses that represents. By networking, these people are supporting each other and tapping into an important group of consumers who would obviously favour buying from a fellow home-based business operator. I am particularly pleased with the efforts that the State Government and others are making to remove what is potentially the biggest barrier to successful home-based business operators.
I am able to speak about isolation with some authority because I was once a home-based business operator, operating a building consultancy firm mainly doing pre-purchase inspections. When running the business I felt the isolation factor personally, together with professional development and growth, the challenge of meeting legislative requirements and insurance changes and challenges, and establishing new clients—all as a home-based business. Isolation is an important factor. It is incredibly important that home-based businesses operators make contact with each other, whether they be potential clients, potential partners, or people they potentially need for their development. It not only leads to an exchange of ideas and advice but, as is evident in the Penrith example, it gives access to a mini-community of people who might be interested in someone's goods and services.
Penrith has been a major beneficiary of the Government's interest in and commitment to the home-based business sector, and it is exciting to see how the experience in my region is being used to help others. Jane Holdsworth, who is the Penrith Valley Economic Development Corporation Chief Executive Officer, has helped set up the Penrith home-based business network and the Hawkesbury home-based business network, and she is also establishing a network on the South Coast in the Shoalhaven region. Unfortunately, the latest statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are outdated: they are from 2001. However, they give an idea of the size of the sector, showing that more than 80,000 small businesses in New South Wales are operated from home.
Importantly, those figures show that the growth of the sector far outstrips the growth in many other areas. Now, as more and more businesses are taking advantage of new technology, we can confidently expect that growth will increase at a faster and faster rate. It is also interesting to note that Jane Holdsworth has also said that within the home-based business network at Penrith, 80 per cent do not want to grow, but 20 per cent do. They do not earn a lot of money—under $15,000—but it is their job, their lifestyle and their choice. This is the key: they want to keep themselves in business; they want to make a network. If the Government supports them in their businesses, that is one less job that has to be found. I commend the Minister for Small Business and Regional Affairs for helping to support them with these speed business dating sessions. The Penrith home-based business network believes that knowledge is the key to keeping it informed and to ensuring that it develops professionally.
I would also like to refer to small business in Penrith. Freshwater Environmental Management Pty Ltd is a small business that was established in 2002 to minimise the effect of aquatic plant infestation in waterways and regatta centres. The company developed an innovative aquatic plant-harvesting system utilising cutting-edge aquatic harvesting technology for which it was highly commended and for which it received an industry award in the biotechnology agribusiness innovation section during a dinner in western Sydney. I commend Chris O'Toole, a local person who saw a harvester on the banks of a river in the United States of America, knew that he could do better, and patented his idea. I also commend Mark Newcombe and Tony Young. The company, which employs 11 staff, is experiencing rapid growth, with demand for its system increasing both domestically and internationally. I wish it the best of luck with its negotiations in Athens.
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