HAVING grown up and lived throughout regional Western Australia and Perth before becoming a WA senator late last year, Ben Small had tried on many hats, including that of a ship's officer, small business owner, ambulance volunteer and working in the oil and gas industry as a marine manager for Woodside.
With all of his previous roles centred on how to effectively manage risk, Mr Small said he planned to use that skill to affect real change to improve the lives of everyday Australians in his role as a Federal politician.
Farm Weekly journalist BREE SWIFT interviewed Mr Small about how he plans to make a meaningful impact as a senator and the experiences and circumstances that have helped shape his world views.
QUESTION: What did you want to be when you were younger?
ANSWER: Like most kids in later high school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do at university and beyond.
I was determined not to have a desk job, but beyond that, the world was my oyster.
In year 11, with some "encouragement" from mum, I completed a youth development voyage on the sail training ship Leeuwin.
On the last day of the voyage, the ship's crew hand the vessel over to the passengers and within the bounds of safety, sit back and watch the ensuing chaos as the team tries to get the ship through the last part of the voyage.
I was lucky enough to find myself elected as the pretend captain for the day and it was while chatting with the real captain that he suggested I consider a career in shipping.
When I returned home to Bunbury, the port authority had just appointed Australia's first female harbour master, captain Helen Cole, which was on the front page of the local paper.
Being a somewhat precocious teenager, I telephoned the Bunbury Port Authority and asked to speak to the new harbour master.
Amazingly, Helen actually took my call.
Shortly thereafter, she invited me to ride along with her out to a visiting ship and once I had stood on the bridge of a ship more than 200 metres long and watched as the team communicated with the tugs and performed the berthing manoeuvre with aplomb, I decided right then that I had found my perfect job.
That led me into the shipping industry, university in Tasmania and jobs that would take me all over the world.
Q: Can you tell me about your experience starting Small's Bar in Eaton, in 2017, which showcases local produce?
Was the business affected by COVID-19 and how is it going now?
A: In 2016, I had dinner with a mate of mine from high school, Michael Prosser, who was the leasing manager at Eaton Fair Shopping Centre.
He told me that leasing of their redeveloped premises was going well, but that they couldn't quite find the right tenant for the bar area.
Michael and I had travelled together fairly extensively and discussed all the cool venues that we had seen in various countries.
At some point during the second bottle of red, despite neither of us having ever pulled a pint or waited a table, we decided to do it ourselves.
What started as a small bar tenancy quickly became much bigger, with an additional tenancy next door as well as a mezzanine floor and balcony being thrown into the mix.
Starting with a concrete shell, we sought to create a welcoming space that had different sections to suit the different desires in a community focused venue - somewhere for date night as much as casual lunch with friends or a big celebration.
Additionally, we felt that coming from Australia's South West, it was important to showcase the local produce that seemed to attract more attention on the world stage than in our own backyard.
When we included the distance to the produce source on our menu, people were blown away at what was so close.
For instance, many Bunbury locals exclaimed that they had no idea the Ferguson Valley wines we had on the menu were just 14 kilometres away and yet they automatically thought of Margaret River as being our closest wine region.
Being determined to do hospitality differently, we took some risks early on.
Small's Bar was the first hospitality venue in Western Australia to go cashless, which we did in 2018 and long before COVID made it cool.
This enabled us to develop and roll out an app to order from the table which we launched in early 2019 - these have taken off since and are now very common.
When I look back at our journey as small business owners, I guess the thing that strikes me most profoundly is that I assumed corporate management experience and an MBA had taught me everything that I needed to know about business.
The reality couldn't have been more starkly different - I don't think that anyone who hasn't run their own business actually understands that difference.
Having walked in their shoes, I am now such a passionate advocate for small business people within government because I get it.
Like all other small business owners, I remember lying awake at night after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the national lockdown in March 2020 - and indeed for most of the week afterwards.
Wondering how to make payroll with a 90 per cent collapse in revenue doesn't make for a restful night.
Indeed, the only people I talk to who remember the eight-day gap between the lockdown and clarity on JobKeeper are small business owners - and so anyone who criticises the scheme with the benefit of hindsight need only pick up the phone and I'm happy to articulate why such bold policy couldn't have been delayed any further for debate and hand-wringing if it was to prevent those unforgettable Centrelink queues getting even worse.
I don't pretend for a moment to understand what small business owners in hard hit sectors have been through over the past 18 months, whether those in heavily locked down parts of Victoria or businesses such as travel agents, who have suffered so badly, even in States such as WA.
I really do take my hat off to them for continuing to bat on.
Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges small WA business owners are facing at the moment?
A: In a word, labour.
It doesn't matter which part of the State you go to, or what sector the business is in, everyone is crying out for people - skilled, unskilled, trainees or apprentices.
The effect of WA's hard border is starting to bite, across all parts of the economy - not only are large resources companies reporting profit impacts from an inability to operate at full capacity, but small hospitality venues can't open for their normal hours of trade.
Other businesses have told me that investments in extra equipment have been put on hold because they simply can't find any additional personnel.
These challenges are not easily resolved, but the Federal government certainly has a focus on restarting skilled migration in the most efficient way possible.
I'm a member of the joint standing committee on migration which recently passed a report to the Immigration Minister on the key pain points that businesses need addressed and am hopeful that we can action those quite urgently.
Q: You've lived in Perth, Kalgoorlie, Leinster and Bunbury and spent more than a decade as a St John Ambulance volunteer.
What was this experience like and what did it teach you?
A: Anyone who has lived regionally understands life a bit differently to the average city-slicker and yes, I readily admit that I now live in the big smoke myself.
Getting medical services such as an MRI might mean a flight to Perth, entire school communities are the size of a single year group at Perth schools and volunteers mean more to organisations than can be imagined in the metropolitan area.
I think that this awareness is so important to my work representing the entire State - WA is arguably the most diverse jurisdiction in Australia, and I "get it" by virtue of having grown up regionally.
I joined St John Ambulance in 2009 because I have always felt a need to give back to my community - and again - I credit my regional upbringing strongly in this respect.
I honestly believe that I have obtained more from my ambulance volunteering than I could ever have given though - I am a fundamentally different person because of my experiences.
Without wanting to sound cliched, once you have been part of the beginning of a life, the end of a life, the happiest parts of life and more often the worst parts of life, you end up with a different perspective.
I have attended to people who were homeless and drug-addicted, just as I have attended to the very wealthy.
I've even seen the delivery of ambulance services in Timor L'Este, where I was lucky enough to deliver some training on an exchange program.
I guess I'm just a bit more grateful as a person and I can talk to literally anyone.
Everyone assumes that the heart attacks, car crashes and stabbings are the jobs that profoundly affect you as a person - but my experience has been different.
I relayed this story to the Senate in my maiden speech:
"More than 10 years ago, I was on shift as a volunteer ambulance officer in a suburb of Bunbury when my partner and I were dispatched to transfer a palliative cancer patient from home to the hospital.
"It wasn't tasked as a medical emergency, but little did I know that one of the more profound experiences of my life was about to unfold.
"Arriving at the house, we discovered that the patient was from a large Italian migrant family - we'll call him Giuseppe - and that he was in a bedroom by himself.
"Lumbering down the corridor with heavy bags of medical equipment, I was shocked to enter the darkened room and discover a mere shadow of a man lying on the bed.
"It always pays to stay quite chipper as an ambo, no matter how confronting the scene, so I breezily introduced myself and informed Giuseppe that we were going to whizz him across the bed, onto our stretcher and then pop him up to the hospital - at which point, the emaciated figure simply said 'no, you won't'.
"Trying to hide my surprise, I enquired as to how Giuseppe fancied getting to hospital if it wasn't with our help.
"Son," he said, "I came to this country before you were born. I built this house myself and spent 25 years raising my family here - so I will walk out of here for the last time.'
All of the relatives in earshot burst into tears, my partner started misting up and I have to confess that I struggled not to start the waterworks myself as this incredibly frail figure slowly hauled himself out of bed and then dragged himself down the corridor, using only the wall for support, over what seemed an agonising eternity.
"Giuseppe collapsed on the front porch, having walked out of his house for the last time.
"I relay this story to the Senate for a simple reason - that this story has in aggregate made our nation what it is."
Q: From 2005 until 2015, you were also a skipper, trainee officer and committee member of Bunbury Sea Rescue.
What prompted you to commit to serving your community in this way and have there been any hairy experiences you would like to share?
A: The desire to serve my community that I mentioned earlier really pushed me to use my professional skills to help.
Bunbury Sea Rescue was a community organisation that had big ambition in terms of bolstering its capability to assist people in need and I was able to work with the team there to deliver a bespoke primary rescue vessel that we designed together and the training program that lifted the competencies of our members.
To me, that's the important test of your contribution to an organisation - that it outlasts you.
Never mind that I haven't driven the boat for a few years now, I know that the culture fosters a professional approach to making every operation that little bit better.
Q: You previously had a career in both the maritime and oil and gas industries working as a ships officer and you were responsible for managing the safe execution of marine activities in support of oil and gas exports at Woodside as the marine manager.
How have these previous experiences shaped your views as a senator?
A: My professional experiences have largely been centred on one thing - risk and how to manage it.
Understanding risk means understanding people - from all cultures - and understanding the costs of managing or mitigating risk.
Getting that balance right to deliver safe, reliable but cost-efficient outcomes has meant making some fairly big decisions at times, with profound implications for many other people.
One of my proudest achievements at Woodside was delivering the company's first ever walk-to-work campaign from a specialist offshore ship that was in Malaysia, using equipment we sourced in the Netherlands, mobilising the project in Singapore before executing it offshore at Dampier.
We had to understand the many risks that we introduced in solving a big commercial risk and then manage those along with the culture of a diverse multinational team being asked to do things differently.
The Woodside chief executive and chief officer had oversight of the project because of its nature, so it was an important one to get right.
I think that experiences such as this have shaped my approach to being a senator because I realise the value of pushing to achieve change.
There are risks whenever we do things differently, but there are also hidden risks in not changing at all.
Taking people on the journey with you, building a case for change and executing it well is key.
I haven't come to the Senate to be a bench-warmer, I want to make a meaningful difference and that means taking some risks to achieve reform.
Q: What prompted you to get into politics?
A: Politics is one of the very few fields of endeavour that you rely on your character, values and abilities to have an impact on many people.
I draw great satisfaction from the idea of helping many small businesses succeed from the ability to advocate for sensible change within government.
Ultimately, one day, I'd love to be a cabinet minister for no other reason than having a seat at the table where the most profound decisions of government are made.
It's not always pretty seeing the sausage making, but I do honestly believe in the idea of politics touching all Australians.
Q: You were vice-president of the Liberal Party's Bunbury branch from 2013 to 2015 and president from 2015 to 2017.
You later served as president of the party's Forrest division from 2017 until your Senate nomination.
With Labor obliterating the Liberals in this year's State election, to what do you account Labor's record landslide win?
A: The entrails of the State election wipeout for the Liberal Party have been comprehensively picked over, so I'd probably limit my comments to saying that it would be impossible to ignore the context of the election - being COVID, of course.
The State government deserved credit for the management of the pandemic in a uniquely Western Australian way and successful way.
I don't think for a moment that means that they don't deserve scrutiny for their management of the infrastructure cost blow-outs with MetroNet, the crumbling health system with record ambulance ramping, a housing crisis or the abject misery that prevails in parts of the bush with alcohol and drug-fuelled violence in certain communities.
I also think that people were prepared to overlook the track record of the McGowan government and its attacks on the bush, but unfortunately, we have already seen them go after the forestry and live export industries and break faith with the regional representation changes that "weren't on the agenda" and suddenly were front and centre post-election.
Just as regional WA wanted to say 'thank you' for effectively managing the pandemic, I get the sense that many are ready to send a message the next time that they go to the ballot box about those issues.
Q: What do you think the WA Liberals need to do to win their assembly seats back?
A: We have a unique opportunity in the lead up to the next State election in 2024 to remind WA that we are a party that believes in aspiration, in reward for effort, in lower taxes and in the primacy of family in our community.
If we approach the election with a clear vision that supports our values, with candidates who are credible in their communities and who work hard, I think that WA will again trust the Liberal Party to represent them.
Q: You were sworn in as a WA senator in November last year, after being appointed to fill the casual vacancy created by the retirement of finance minister and leader of the government in the senate Mathias Cormann.
What is the main thing you hope to achieve in this role?
A: Mathias left very big shoes to fill and I hope to make them go a long way yet.
I hope to be a strong voice for business within the Senate, by bringing my real world experience to bear in the debates on issues that affect business.
We are in the middle of a profound economic transition as we aim to achieve net zero by 2050, but the imperative for cheap, reliable and sustainable energy is not just a concern for households.
So many industries and businesses are incredibly affected by power prices and while everyone is a bit hot under the collar about hydrogen, the reality is that we will have a different energy mix but we simply can't tolerate a more expensive energy mix that puts businesses under.
Investing in technology that makes lower-carbon energy affordable is key here, as is preventing any negative impacts from affecting regional Australia.
I'm passionate about the difference that a job can make to any Australian, so I hope to achieve industrial relations reform that makes it easier for business to employ.
If we have simplicity, certainty and flexibility at the heart of our industrial relations framework, we make it easier for business to grow and for employees to benefit in ways that suit their circumstances.
Canberra is a very long way from any WA business, so we shouldn't be resolving these complex issues with thousands of pages of regulations from Parliament House.
Q: Can you explain to the layperson what a senator does and why we need the Senate?
A: A senator represents their home State and holds government to account through oversight.
The Senate gives WA an equal say with the much bigger States, such as New South Wales and Victoria and was key to WA achieving the GST deal that delivers us the protection of a floor in our allocation, which the eastern States would never have agreed to without our Senate team holding their own.
Holding the government to account is so important to the healthy functioning of our democracy - not just in a political sense, but in terms of scrutinising the agencies that are funded by the taxpayer to work for the taxpayer.
Having been able to hold the Australian Taxation Office and ABC to account for the way they treat taxpayers is just part of my role as senator.
Q: What legislation have you been involved in that you are most proud of since becoming a senator?
A: In my first conversation with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, I raised the ATO's unfair treatment of small business.
If a small business disputes a tax bill, the ATO has the power to forcibly recover that disputed debt without any approval from an outside entity - as I said to Josh, it simply isn't fair that one of the players has the umpire's whistle.
In his budget speech this year, the Treasurer announced that we are legislating to allow an independent review of any such forcible recovery action before it occurs - this means that small businesses with a legitimate tax dispute can bat on until their day in court, rather than having their house sold from under them.
I am incredibly proud to be part of a government that is standing up for aspirational Australians like this.
Q: What do you know about the role now that you didn't know before?
A: I don't think many people understand how all-consuming the job is.
While the common view of politicians is that we are simply in the trough and rorting expenses, my experience has been that I've had to work harder than I ever have before.
Equally, the role is more rewarding than any other job I've had, so I am certainly not complaining.
Q: What will be your next step after completing your term as a senator?
A: I'm an optimistic person, so I'm hoping to secure re-election at the coming Federal election in a few months and continue my work.
If not, I'll return to the private sector and pursue my business interests.
Q: What is something surprising people might not know about you?
A: I'm one of the very rare professional mariners that hates eating seafood.
Give me a good steak any day.
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