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.

Start the new year by taking advantage of a range of government grants, funding, incentives and support services to boost your business.

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!

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) has become something of a buzz term in business. But what does it really mean and why is it good for business?

The CEO of the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games Jeroen Weimar says the event will present significant opportunities for Victorian businesses, particularly those in the regions.

The Australian Apprenticeships Priority List has been expanded, adding occupations eligible for financial support.

The Victorian Chamber has released a roadmap aimed at helping reduce energy prices, ensure the reliability of energy supply, capitalise on investment opportunities and support businesses in the transition to a net-zero economy.

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.

The Victorian Chamber welcomes Federal Government changes to boost the international education sector and address skills shortages in key industries.

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.

Addressing labour and skills shortages, adopting a national approach to payroll tax and providing tax incentives to business to invest in energy efficient technologies are among the key recommendations of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2023-24 Federal Budget submission.

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.

In a major $2.35 billion energy announcement on Tuesday, Victoria was chosen as preferred location for the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project – a collaboration involving the Japanese, Australian and Victorian Governments.

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.