Most of you will have been impacted by Tuesday’s extreme weather event culminating in more than half a million Victorians losing power and more than 300,000 still in the dark as they woke on Valentines Day.

It’s a grim reminder of the challenge that lies ahead as the State grapples with a move to 95 per cent Net Zero by 2035

I spoke with a number of media outlets, including The Today Show, 3AW Mornings with Tom Elliott, 3AW Drive with Jacqui Felgate, the Herald Sun, The Age, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review, about how events like this underscores the pressing need for Victoria to address energy reliability, availability and cost.

The reliance on traditional energy grids has never been more precarious, making the shift towards sustainable alternatives not just an environmental imperative but also an economic necessity.

The Victorian Chamber has consistently advocated for a comprehensive Government Renewable Energy Roadmap. Eerily, it’s just over a year to the day since we released our Roadmap for Achieving Net Zero. At the time I said: “The energy crisis is one of the biggest challenges businesses are facing in 2023. That’s why the Victorian Chamber is taking a proactive approach to raise awareness and provide practical solutions to reduce costs, ensure reliable energy supply and support businesses transition to a net-zero economy.”

The Chamber has continued to prosecute this position. Last week we released our State Budget Submission and again called for urgent investment in our energy sector. As I said on 3AW’s Drive program “The emerging issue which isn’t being spoken about much is the certainty of energy. We know there is an end to gas in the not too distant future, and the coal power stations are going to be turned off, that’s not so sad but what is sad is there is no alternate which means we are facing a very real picture here we are going to run out of both gas and electricity… the business community needs to understand how we are going to get [to net zero] with certainty of supply and certainty of cost because we cannot pay anymore for our power and we cannot pay anymore for our gas”.

We look forward to continuing our proactive, solutions-driven approach at our Commitment to Action: The Journey to Net Zero event on Friday, 8 March which will feature a panel of industry experts and a video address from Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen. Proudly sponsored by Origin Zero, Banksia Strategic Partners and The CarbonNet Project, this event is extremely topical and I look forward to the ideas that it generates.

We would like to hear from any businesses that have been severely impacted by the lack of power. If your business operations were affected or continue to be affected by the outages, please contact us at policy@victorianchamber.com.au with the extent of the damages this has caused your business.

In further challenges to business, the Closing the Loopholes bill passed both Houses of the Federal Parliament. Every business should be worried about the impact. If you need support, advice, or questions answered, please contact our Workplace Relations Advice Line.

In more upbeat news, unless you have been living under a rock, you will know Melbourne is awash with Swiftmania.

The world’s biggest pop star is here for The Eras Tour and her sequin-clad, merchandise-hungry fans have converged on the city, bringing with them a major economic boost – conservatively estimated at 100 million dollars.

Most of our hotels are booked out, our restaurants and cafes are gearing up to feed thousands of swifties and, of course, there will be the flow-on for our retail, tourism and transport industries as well.

The Victorian Chamber is proud to play a significant role in assisting the bumping in of the epic concert series, through ensuring more than 270 pieces of staging equipment is cleared through customs via our Carnet service (allowing the temporary importation of goods throughout countries).

The positivity is music to the ears of Victorian businesses in this challenging economic climate.

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to advertising giant and philanthropist Harold Mitchell, who sadly passed away this week aged 81. A true Victorian success story, Trafalgar born, he founded Mitchell & Partners in Melbourne 1976, which became Australia’s largest media buying agency before he sold it to British company Aegis in 2010. A longtime resident of Spring Street, I’ll miss our chats, I’ll miss his ideas and I’ll miss his passion for Victoria.

Stay safe and for those of you lucky enough to be the audience at Tay Tay this weekend – enjoy!