With Victoria’s pandemic declaration expired at 11.59pm last night, it’s time for us to get on with life and for business to continue its recovery as we focus on the future.

The floods across the state are another powerful reminder of the natural disasters Australians endure. In Victoria, the pandemic has been bookended by bushfires and floods, causing more disruption for thousands of people.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his first Budget on Tuesday night and the Victorian Chamber was pleased to see our advocacy reflected in a number of primary areas that will assist business.

With the Melbourne Cup run and won, the focus now turns to another race - the Victorian Election on November 26. The official campaign began yesterday and the Victorian Chamber released the first of a series of advocacy videos to promote our State Election Platform, Powering Victoria’s Future.

I’m excited to be Acting Chief Executive of the Victorian Chamber this week while Paul Guerra is in Paris bidding on behalf of Melbourne to secure the 14th World Chambers Congress here in 2025.

I am delighted that the Victorian Chamber Board endorsed Adrian Kloeden as President and Jeremy Blackshaw as Deputy President at Tuesday’s Victorian Chamber AGM. Congratulations to Adrian and Jeremy and thank you to Karyn Sobels for her successful tenure as President.

This Saturday Victorians will go to the polls in what is shaping as a critical election for our business community after the many challenges of the past three years.

One of the great things about Australia is that we live in a democracy. We all had the chance to vote on the weekend and we congratulate Premier Daniel Andrews and the Labor Party on what was a decisive win in the Victorian Election.

Well, we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted for business with Federal Parliament passing the Industrial Relations Reforms Bill last week. So, we will now be ensuring we support you and your business to understand the impact of the changes and how you can navigate them.

What a year! As this is my last message for 2022, it seems only fitting to end the year on a positive note, with news that office occupancy in Melbourne’s CBD is climbing as Victoria continues its recovery.

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.