Community Celebration Ceremony to accept Certificate of Recognition given by Jo Haylen, MP 

I warmly thank the members of the AshBiz Business Chamber for their leadership and support of the Ashfield, Haberfield and Summer Hill businesses during the COVID‑19 lockdown. I was honoured to host a Roundtable with AshBiz members alongside Steve Kamper, Shadow Minister for Small Business and Clr Lucille McKenna, a great opportunity to learn more about the experiences and concerns of local small businesses. It is clear that while local business owners have extraordinary optimism about the future, the past four months of lockdown have been tough, made harder for some by difficulties accessing the Government's small business support. The ingenuity and resilience of local businesses has been on full show during these difficult months and I stand with business owners as they work to reopen in the weeks ahead. I especially acknowledge members of the Haberfield Heritage Village Committee, including Mary Balfonte, Raj Suri and Lucille Scaltrito, for reaching out to my office and for all they are doing to support local Haberfield businesses. I also acknowledge Joe Rechichi, President of AshBiz. I wish all businesses across the inner west the very best as we move towards reopening and again thank AshBiz for their important work.