Today I’d like to thank everyone who’s put in a nomination for my Bonner Volunteer Awards. These Awards recognise individuals and groups that have demonstrated outstanding volunteer qualities. They shine a light on people who’ve made a significant and lasting contribution to our community. They commend those who’ve set a good example for fellow volunteers and inspired others to volunteer.

The Bonner Volunteer Awards were a great success last year. This year has been no different with even more nominations coming in. It’s been great to hear so many stories of men and women making a real difference in our community. They all deserve praise and I’d like to recognise their work today.

We’re lucky in Bonner to have many grassroots sports clubs where children of all ages can hone their love and talent for a sport. These clubs depend on the hard work of their volunteers:

• Carindale Juniors AFL Club has grown to over 100 members thanks to many dedicated Bonner parents.

• Their Vice-President Brad Abell has donated hundreds of hours of his time coaching the under-10s, managing the umpires, repairing and maintaining their footy oval, and more.

• David Harvey from Manly West acts as coach, manager, game official, club referee and more for Bayside United Football Club.

• Jason Lavender started as President of Bayside Jets Basketball Club in Carina last year. He stepped up to the plate when former club president Noel Merrick had open heart surgery. He trains the kids every Tuesday night and he’s been getting them results!

There are several other Bonner volunteers who also give their free time to help young people in the community:

• Marian Sheffield volunteers for a number of clubs in the Wynnum-Manly area, including Acacia Bayside Swimming Club and Annette Roselli Dance Academy.

• Michael Lakeman runs the Manly Lota Scouts Group.

• Gloria Guthrie volunteers at Mackenzie State Special School library.

• Jacqueline Park volunteers as a reading tutor at Upper Mount Gravatt State School.

There are also local volunteers who help out our older residents in need:

• Lyn Felschow volunteers at the Holland Park Meals on Wheels, as well as her local church.

• Phil Young assists elderly people at his local Carindale complex.

Then there are volunteers who make a difference for our homeless:

• The Making a Difference Team based in Manly West regularly helps and organises donated items for the homeless or people trying to restart their lives.

• Joseph Dawson is just 14 years old and volunteers every month with the Rosies Friends on the Street program. Joseph is a hard worker who also encourages his friends to get involved with this worthy cause.

Finally there are the volunteers who’ve made a particular mark on our community:

• Linda Pascoe started the Gumdale Hub Facebook page to bring the community together to help fight crime in the area. Linda and the rest of the Gumdale Hub team do a great page running the page.

• Alex Wright from Mansfield is a long-time volunteer also helping protect his community. He’s involved with Volunteer in Policing and Mansfield Neighbourhood Watch. These are just two of the many organisations Alex volunteers with.

• Carindale local Bruce Meers is another life-long volunteer for many local charities and clubs. The list is too long to read here! Bruce has truly changed the lives of so many people young and old over the last 50 years.

Congratulations to these amazing volunteers. I look forward to meeting them at the Bonner Volunteer Awards presentation ceremony tomorrow. I can’t wait to thank them for their service to the community.

The NBN, as we know, is one of the single largest infrastructure rollouts seen in our nation's history. A rollout of the scale understandably takes time, and the Turnbull government is delivering better broadband across Australia in the fastest and most affordable way, on time, as promised and under budget. The coalition is working hard to make sure this happens for all Australians.

In December last year, the Coalition announced a range of consumer protections that are now being introduced. They include new rules to be enforced by ACMA to stop complaints handballing; giving the TIO better tools to resolve complaints; mandating line tests to confirm working connection and installation; and mandating explanations to customers about how speed tiers will affect them, their families and their businesses.

In Bonner, more than 56 per cent of the NBN rollout is already completed, and more than 17,500 households have taken up an NBN service. Let me tell you, I have had nowhere near as many complaints as we all are led to believe happen if we are to listen to those opposite. I have proudly taken ownership over the NBN in my electorate of Bonner, teaming up with my NBN reps and technicians to educate locals as well as advocate for the best possible outcomes for constituents, including the extension of the newly introduced fibre-to-the-curb technology.

In the last year I've held a number of NBN forums with representatives from NBN and telecommunication providers, seniors' specific forums and mobile offices around Bonner. I am in regular contact with the minister's office, and as soon as I am made aware of an area that is about to become NBN-ready, my team and I letterbox drop and host mobile offices to make sure that locals know about the service and what they need to do to make the switch. In the next month I'll be hosting two more: one at Gumdale on 5 June and one on the 14th in Mount Gravatt.

I'm not going to say to that I've had no complaints, but I will proudly stand here and say that on the complaints that I have received I have worked with the minister's office, NBN and the telecommunications providers to ensure that issues are dealt with, and my constituents are thankful for that. Cameron Day from Holland Park West contacted me last year and said:

My nbn was connected this week, thank you so much for your help!! It's good to know that there are people like yourself who get things done. I'll remember that. Politics isn't something I've care for much, however you have certainly changed that.

Eight Mile Plains resident Mr Sum recently reached out to tell me about the social and economic benefits that he and his work have received thanks to the introduction of the NBN in Bonner. Mr Sum said:

I've lived here for a decade and NBN is one of the best things to happen here. ADSL was slow and the other options were terrible and super expensive. Now that I'm connected to NBN I'm able to work from home, live stream on two HD devices. I've had my service for 6 months now and never had an issue in fact; it has put extra money back into my pocket.

With that, I would like to ask the positive impacts others have felt as a result of the NBN. Last year NBN Co commissioned data analytics and economics firm AlphaBeta to investigate the social and economic impacts of the National Broadband Network. Can the minister outline the status of the NBN rollout in Queensland and some of the key findings from the Connecting Australia research report?

It’s Queensland Small Business Week! I enjoy celebrating the achievements of small businesses in Bonner. Coming from a small business background myself, I also enjoy helping local small businesses grow and stay competitive.

Today I want to talk about how this Government is delivering for small business. I’d also like to shine a spotlight on local small businesses and small business groups I’ve worked with this year.

I thank the Government for extending the $20,000 instant asset write-off again. Over 3200 small businesses in Bonner have benefitted from this measure since it was first introduced. Small business owners have told me how helpful the instant asset write-off has been for them to purchase much-needed equipment.

We’re also continuing to cut red tape for small businesses and individuals, to the tune of $5.9 billion since 2013. The latest Annual Regulatory Reform Agenda report shows the regulatory burden on business was reduced by over $800 million from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2017.

I’ve been pleased to share this great news with small businesses all across Bonner.

The 2018 Brisbane Small Business Expo recently rolled through Mt Gravatt. There were over 230 trade tables showcasing small businesses from across the Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Logan regions. It was great to have the Small Business Minister there. We chatted with hard-working small business owners who told us how our measures have helped them.

I’m proud to have helped bring the Expo to Brisbane for the first time in its seven year history. It was great to have an event like this in Bonner that recognises the outstanding contribution small businesses make to our community, and gives them the opportunity to network and learn other ways to bolster their business. Thanks to Expo organiser Paula Brand for her hard work making this happen.

I’ve also shared the good Budget news with local small businesses all over Bonner. In the last few months, I’ve been on almost ten small business walks. These walks are some of my favourite ways to engage with the local business community. I’ve been everywhere from the Wynnum CBD and Mayfair Village, to the strips and plazas along Logan Road in Mt Gravatt, going shop to shop chatting with small business owners about what matters to them most.

It’s been great chatting with the hard workers at Stavlos Barn Deli Café in Belmont, at Rod’s Meatery at the Gumdale shops on New Cleveland Road, at the Move Podiatry Clinic in Manly, at the Flour Monkey Bakery in Carina, at Gilmour’s Comfort Shoes at Palmdale Shopping Centre in Upper Mount Gravatt, and so many more.

I’m proud to be part of a Government that is backing these small businesses. The Coalition will always support small business to grow and create more jobs. We understand that when small businesses are given room to grow, employ more people and pay them better wages, we all benefit.

I look forward to delivering more for the small businesses of Bonner. I’m looking forward to returning home and hitting the pavement again to talk to more small business owners about what this Government can do for them.