Victorian businesses have been dealt another harsh blow today with the announcement that the State will be plunged into its fifth lockdown due to the escalating NSW COVID-19 outbreak spreading into Victoria.

The Victorian government has announced the State will once again begin a snap lockdown from 11:59pm on Thursday night following 18 new cases of COVID-19 across Victoria.

It was only last week that we were reminded of the beginning of a 112-day lockdown here in Victoria last year and we desperately hope we don’t find ourselves in a similar situation again.

CEO of The Kahan Group and owner of The George on Collins, Greg Kahan shares his story about how the CBD venue has kept afloat during the hardest of times for CBD businesses.

VCCI Chief Executive Paul Guerra, looks to the future and explains why Victoria “can’t go back to the old ways of doing things” in his address to the Melbourne Press Club.

Restrictions have once again eased following seven consecutive days of zero cases of COVID-19 community transmission, as Metropolitan Melbourne moves in line with Regional Victoria.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a $11 million support package to help facilitate mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for all residential aged care workers.

Lockdown Four, and the COVID-19 situations around the country in Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Western Australia, have shown us that the pandemic is far from over.  

The Federal Government has announced an expansion of Australia’s Priority Migration Skilled Occupations List (PMSOL) following a collective advocacy campaign from the business community.

The ongoing restrictions in Victoria continue to hamper our hospitality, events and entertainment sectors. This won’t keep happening if we all get vaccinated.

The business community in Regional Victoria will be relieved today to hear the news of a further easing of restrictions. There is also good news that essentially every business in the state can now operate. But for some larger metropolitan events, hospitality and entertainment venues, the easing of restrictions have not gone far enough, and we still have a difference in settings between Regional and Metropolitan areas.

I know this is a tough time for many of you who will feel shattered by the extension of the fourth lockdown Victoria has endured since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

It is the Victorian Chamber’s goal to make Victoria the best place in Australia to live, work, learn, and operate a business. Our message is simple - business is not only the engine room of the economy, they’re also the heart of our communities.

The countdown is on to our Victoria Summit Vision Day! Today we officially launched our first major Summit event coming up on 28 May where attendees will come together to map out a bold new vision for Victoria.

It was encouraging to see the Federal Government revive the National Cabinet this week to address the issues with the vaccine rollout, bringing the states and territories together to find the best path forward.

I hope your Easter Break was a good one. I know many of you are nervous around the recommencement of hotel quarantine on Thursday. Put simply, it is essential this time around the State Government gets the hotel quarantine system right.