The seven-day extension announced today only intensifies the emergency businesses find themselves in, yet I know our members are willing to do whatever is required to ensure we can open up again. The numerous changes include:

• Some outdoor jobs such as landscaping added to the permitted worker list
• The QR code check-in requirements will be extended to supermarkets and retail
• The State Government proposes to ease restrictions in regional Victoria from 11.59pm Thursday, 3 June with a final decision to be made tomorrow
• Regional businesses must check the IDs of their customers and clients to ensure they have not come from metropolitan Melbourne
• Metropolitan residents won’t be permitted to travel to regional Victoria for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.

For more information about restrictions and what resources are available for your business, please view our news article for the latest updates.

The State Government also announced a further $209 million to the Circuit Breaker Business Support Package in addition to the $250 million announced on Sunday. Applications will be open from tomorrow and I encourage our members to apply for the assistance they are entitled to.

It was clear on Sunday and it’s even more clear today that workers need support. The Victorian Chamber renews our call for the Federal and State Governments to come together to help workers who will go without a pay cheque for yet another week. Business is the key to economic recovery, and if that support were to stop, struggling employers will have no choice but to close their doors and staff left without a lifeline.

It’s important to recognise Victoria is in a different position than it was during previous lockdowns. A vaccine is available and people are now getting vaccinated in droves, there’s a state-mandated QR code system and the contact tracing capabilities have vastly improved. Now business needs to see a more targeted approach to outbreaks that protects the health of all Victorians while ensuring business and workers can keep trading.

We need a clear path out of this lockdown that will see a return to the level of COVID Normal restrictions that we had in place prior. Victorians need and deserve transparency and clarity on what the parameters are to go into lockdown and how to get out of them. There are still no clear answers about how low the numbers need to be before we can get out of this latest lockdown.

Then, we should only look backwards to inform the future. We’ve learned a lot during this pandemic, and Victoria needs to get to a position where the state can stay open with a few cases in the community, not lock down. The risk of this virus remains, but we all share a responsibility to continue to mitigate the risk. Only then can we truly move forward together and never be in lockdown again.

Stay safe, and please check in on each other.

Regards,
Paul Guerra, Chief Executive, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry