Ms Bernadette Phelan:

It is the ultimate in enlightened self-interest. We want to get this new pilot project, and we will share details with the committee, which is about working with SMEs around carbon literacy. I go back to the Senator's closing point about the progress that is happening. The education and learning curve we have to go through is phenomenal. This is why businesses, be they large or small, need to support each other around what solutions are working and what is effective. The Government should try to amplify those case studies and good messages. We need to counter the story that this cannot be done because no one acts from a fear-based narrative. We need to identify that there are business and social opportunities here and get people in a mindset that this can be done as opposed to it cannot be done. A lot of leadership is coming from business in wanting to support the SME sector, in particular. That is a very important initiative.

The history of B Corp is that it was a US movement. It has global reach and speaks to the global supply chain piece. The SME sector in particular has an important role in that regard. B Corp resonates with a consumer base; it is seen on beauty and food products. Business and the Community is very much focused on ISO management system standards to prevent any of the greenwashing narrative, to make it robust, and to ensure how businesses are acting now and the investment they are making now will serve a purpose in two or three years' time. Businesses need to upskill their staff on these issues. They want something that will stand the test of time because every business and SME in a rural area wants to be around in 20 or 30 years.

On that learning piece and skills gap, a lot of it is we know where we need to get to. We know we want social stability and that we need to get carbon out of the economy. We have a "how" problem. It is about sharing the good examples, the learning, and building up capacity within businesses. That is where we see it at. It is solving the "how".