Former accountant and shadow small business minister Stephen Kamper has been tasked with leading New South Wales’ small business policies, as part of newly elected Premier Chris Minns’ first cabinet.
Kamper, who was elected to the NSW Parliament as the Member for Rockdale in 2015, will also take on ministerial responsibility for lands and property, multiculturalism and sport in a cabinet that slices up the business-related portfolios in a different way to the previous Liberal government’s.
Under previous Liberal governments, the small business portfolio was for several years combined with responsibility for fair trading. This post was held by former ministers Eleni Petinos and Victor Dominello, while Damien Tudehope held the joint portfolios of finance and small business for almost three years.
In the Labor ministry unveiled on Tuesday, Macquarie Fields MP Anoulack Chanthivong has been appointed Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading and will also oversee the industry and trade, and innovation, science and technology portfolios — also key policy areas for the state’s businesses.
Courtney Houssos will become the state’s new Minister for Finance, as well as the Minister for Natural Resources, while Daniel Mookhey will deliver the state’s next budget as NSW Treasurer.
The industrial relations and work health and safety portfolios have been given to Sophie Cotsis, and John Graham will be responsible for ‘jobs and tourism’, in addition to his responsibilities as Special Minister for State and Minister for Roads, the Arts, Music and the Night-time Economy.
Premier Minns said in a statement he is proud of his cabinet.
“We have a lot of hard work in front of us, and a big responsibility, but my team and I are up to the challenge,” he said.
“We have a clear mandate from the people of NSW to rebuild our essential services, to invest in the people who look after us — our nurses, teachers, paramedics, firefighters and police officers.
“Our priority is to help families and households deal with the increasing cost of living, the energy crisis and to fix our schools and hospitals.”
Stephen Kamper was the frontrunner for the small business portfolio in the lead up to the March election, and he brings significant business experience to the portfolio.
Prior to entering politics, Kamper was a senior partner in local accounting firm Kamper Chartered Accountants, which he helped run for 30 years. He has also been involved in designing an industry-based income protection and work cover top-up scheme for injured workers and is a former President of the Sydney Olympic Soccer Club.
Kamper will play a key role in delivering Labor’s extensive small business policy, which the party claims will strengthen ties between the government and small business.
That policy includes a major focus on boosting procurement from small businesses, as well as simplfying the process for outdoor dining applications, and energy bill relief to some eligible small businesses.
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Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on Twitter at @ellykeating.
