Govt promises to listen to CQ business owners

News Corp asked what was being done about youth crime which made some CQ small businesses virtually uninsurable.

Artisan Bakery's Simone Lawrie with Minister Di Farmer and MPs Brittany Lauga and Barry O'Rourke at the Small Business roadshow in Rockhampton.

Simone Lawrie was among more than 50 of Central Queensland’s small business owners to meet with State Government representatives at a roadshow on Tuesday.

Ms Lawrie credited a $10,000 loan from the State Government with keeping the Artisan Bakery afloat during Covid.

“We were grateful to receive funding to help us push our social media, develop our website and run a TV advertising campaign,” she said.

“My team was very quick to refit the shop and develop new packet mixes, but small business owners should definitely go out and get help wherever they can.”

Minister Di Farmer said the Small Business Roadshow was about keeping up to date with how the government could support locals “right now”.

Minister Di Farmer and MP Brittany Lauga at the Small Business Roadshow in Rockhampton.

Tuesday’s meeting at CocoBrew was the second of 17 meetings and six Facebook live sessions which began the day prior in Gladstone.

“We need to put small businesses front and centre or we’re not going to make an economic recovery,” Ms Farmer said.

“For those people who can’t make it to one of the live or Facebook sessions, I hope they’ll fill out the (Covid-19 Business Recovery) survey on the website.”

Ms Farmer heard from Gladstone business owners on Monday about the skills shortages they face in recruiting and retaining staff.

She said there were trends in Central Queensland small businesses – in food, manufacturing and disability support – which have emerged since even this time of last year.

“That’s what’s so important about this roadshow, to be able to tailor the government’s support to each region.”

News Corp asked what the government was doing about youth crime which has made businesses in small CQ towns virtually uninsurable, as their premises are broken into and their vehicles and equipment stolen.

Ms Farmer said the government’s investment of over half a billion dollars over ten years had resulted in a 30 per cent decrease in youth crime statistics.

“Those figures don’t mean anything if your neighbour’s just been robbed or you were just assaulted,” she said.

“But we know about 10 per cent of repeat offenders commit about 44 per cent of the crimes so we’re focusing on efforts on dealing with those hard nuts.

“If small businesses think that crime has a significant impact on their success, then that’s something we need to hear.”

The survey can be found at https://www.business.qld.gov.au/