Federation Chamber
Monday 15 March 2021

I rise today to talk about a local small business owner in the electorate of Oxley. Sam Catalano is the proud owner of a family-run business, Cineplex at Redbank. It's a great independent movie theatre that people in my community love. Unfortunately, Sam's business and his employees are now doing it really tough. When COVID-19 brought mandated closures to entertainment providers, the independent cinema business became one of the industries in the country worst hit by the pandemic. Just like business owners in the tourism and hospitality sectors in Queensland, Sam's business has seen a huge drop in revenue—around 70 per cent—and with the continuing blows like capacity constraints and loss of film supply, Sam's small family-owned business is struggling to stay above water.

Right now, Sam and those who work for him are afraid of what's going to happen when JobKeeper runs out at the end of month. He's not sure if he will be able to keep his door open or be able to keep his employees on the payroll. Family-owned businesses like Sam's deserve an answer: does this government care about an industry that injects more than $250 million into the Australian economy each year or not? Once again, I call on the Morrison government not to turn its back on small businesses. It's time to come up with a clear plan to extend JobKeeper or find another way to support hardworking Australians who have done everything right and just want to stay afloat.