With the state budget still months away, earnest discussions are occurring now to influence what will be handed down.

The WorkCover scheme is broken and no longer fit for purpose. It needs to change in order to survive.

The chronic nationwide worker shortage is the biggest obstacle to Australia’s economic recovery. In a globally competitive environment, we need to make sure Australia is renowned as a great place to work, build a career and base your business.

It’s hard to describe what an incredible feeling it is to finally be able to move around our great state again and enjoy all Regional Victoria has to offer, whether it’s our beautiful towns, beaches, lakes, rivers, wineries, golf courses or restaurants.

Habits can be hard to break and I’m sure we all felt a bit uncertain last week as office workers started to return after the better part of two years working from home.

If you were lucky enough to get in a break over the school holidays, you would have noticed the crippling effect that Covid-19 is having on our small businesses across the state.

Well, we made it through, and Christmas is now on our doorstep.

Just when we thought it was smooth sailing, we’ve hit a slight bump with the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. I know many of you may be experiencing familiar feelings of anxiousness this week with the news of Omicron emerging across the world and here in Australia.

Hindsight is a funny thing. Had we known the COVID-19 wrecking ball was coming for us, we would have ducked for cover. We can’t use that excuse anymore.

Grab your family, grab your friends, and grab your workmates - it’s time to celebrate and enjoy our state again! The Victorian Chamber was delighted by today’s State Government announcement that it will lift the majority of restrictions across the state which will give all our businesses the best chance to roar back.

How good was it seeing our state roar back to life over the weekend? It was so exciting to see crowds at events and smiles on the faces of so many as they celebrated Victoria’s reopening over the past few days.

Sunday was a good day for most when we heard the State Government’s roadmap had been bought forward. I cannot wait to see the smiles on the faces of business owners, staff and customers when we start to emerge from lockdown in Metropolitan Melbourne this week.