Letter From The Treasurer Min Chai

There’s a particular kind of courage it takes to open a business in the Newtown Enmore Precinct. You don’t do it for the easy money. You do it because you believe in something - in the street, in the community, in the idea that what you make or serve or offer genuinely matters to the people around you.

That belief is being tested right now.

I’d be lying if I said things were looking good. Consumer confidence is fragile - rising interest rates, households spending down, the cost of doing business climbing, supply chains still unpredictable, foot traffic shifting. These aren’t just headlines. They show up in your weekly takings. They show up in the decisions you make about staffing, about stock, about whether to renew a lease.

But here’s what I also know: community-embedded businesses are more resilient when they lean on each other. When we refer, when we collaborate, when we share knowledge about navigating costs, accessing support, or growing our customer base - we create an economic ecosystem that is stronger for its diversity, and harder to uproot because of it.

This is why this chamber matters beyond advocacy and events. It is, at its core, a mutual support network with real financial stakes. Every time you choose to buy local, cross-refer a customer, or show up for a neighbouring business - you are making an investment in the economic ecosystem that keeps all of us viable.

As Oodgeroo Noonuccal wrote on this very Country: “To our fathers’ fathers the pain, the sorrow; to our children’s children the glad tomorrow.”

Min