The Minister for Small Business joined Nationals Senator for NSW John Williams, Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen and representatives of the Muswellbrook Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) at a Small Business Roundtable Forum at the Muswellbrook RSL Club on Wednesday.

“It’s great to be here in town,” he said.

“I’m on a national roadshow taking government agencies to the people.

“We listened to more than a couple of dozen small business owners and operators in Muswellbrook about the sorts of issues affecting them.

“Obviously, energy prices were something that came up – and worries about power bills, which the government is dealing with at the moment.

“We’ve got the COAG Energy Council meeting next week, and the Prime Minister has already said he’s going to re-energise Snowy Hydro, providing power in the long term for half a million NSW homes.

“There are other factors we’re putting into place, too.

“Red tape reduction is also something high on small business owners and operators’ minds.

“And, we’re doing so much in that space.

“But, I’d love to hear feedback on how we can further reduce some of the burden.

“I know as a small business owner in the past, before I got into parliament, just how important it is to cut through some of that bureaucracy.

“That’s why in the recent Federal Budget we put $300 million on the table to provide incentives to the states to remove some of those layers where federal and state bureaucracy overlaps.”