Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year’s with your families and friends and that at least some of you got to enjoy a break. We know this is a busy time for many businesses and we are grateful for your ongoing hard work during the holiday period.

As Acting Chief Executive, it’s exciting to see so many people getting out and about across Victoria as the summer weather provides the perfect conditions for lapping up what we love about this great state. Many Victorians are returning to work while others are taking an extended break at our tourist hot spots, enjoying the Australian Open, the Lunar New Year and a myriad of other events.

It’s great to be back after a break enjoying Regional Victoria and thank you to Chanelle, Scott and the team for doing such a fantastic job while I was away. It has already been a big week as school holidays finish and students head back to the classroom. No doubt there’s been a few tears shed by parents of those children starting school and even some tears of joy for parents of those returning!

Well, it seems we are going to have to get used to interest rates continuing to rise if this weeks commentary is anything to go by. I’m sure you all felt the impact of the latest interest rate rise in some way. It’s another cost increase that will hit most businesses either directly or indirectly via the potential decline in consumer spending.

I’ve spent a large part of the last week engaging with various stakeholders including Victorian Government Ministers and our members about the rising costs involved with running a business, escalating electricity and gas prices, and what the road to net zero looks like.

I’ve been asked to address a number of different forums in recent weeks to give the Chamber’s view on the outlook for business for 2023 and the role of business in driving economic growth.

There goes summer for another year. Not quite the warm weather we had hoped for, but we look ahead to what autumn brings, particularly with the Moomba Festival, AFL Season, Grand Prix, and the highly anticipated opening of “& Juliet” not far away.

Today we celebrate International Women’s Day, a global event that recognises the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, raises awareness about discrimination and drives gender parity.

I hope you all made the most of the long weekend and those who opened or worked did a roaring trade, the weather was certainly in full cooperation!

How good is it to have the AFL back? Four action packed days and evenings resulted in some nail-biting results for round one, and I have to say, the ladder is looking spectacular to this Essendon supporter!

Having come straight from the Albert Park track this morning from the Victorian Chamber and Keolis Downer Grand Prix™ Breakfast, I can tell you that Melbourne is certainly in for a treat this weekend!

We saw Melbourne at its best over the weekend as we played host to a Melbourne-record Formula One crowd of more than 440,000 people at Albert Park.

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe long weekend. It was certainly great to have a break, and hopefully some of you can enjoy extra time with your children as we enter school holidays.

It certainly feels like the year continues to accelerate, and I hope you are doing what you need to ensure your business is in good shape.

On Tuesday, we reflected on the sacrifice that generations of Australians and New Zealanders have made to protect our way of life. Hundreds of Anzac Day commemorations took place across the State to honour the Anzac spirit; it felt to me as if that spirit was particularly prominent this year, perhaps it was heightened among Victorians because of the war in Ukraine and global instability.

As we approach the budget season, we are in continuing discussions with the State Government to ensure business remains positioned to provide the growth the State needs. I expect those meetings will continue over the next few weeks as well.