Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Rachel WESTAWAY (Prahran) (19:04): (1501) My adjournment this evening is for the Treasurer, and the action I seek is for the Treasurer to implement the recommendations of the Business Council of Australia’s Regulation Rumble 2025 report to make Victoria’s business environment competitive again. Earlier this week I met with business leaders from right across Victoria with the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party Jess Wilson. The message was consistent and deeply concerning. Melbourne is a great city, but right now it is underperforming, and Victorians absolutely know it. Confidence is falling, investment is fleeing and too many businesses are making the hard decisions to shut their doors or to leave this state altogether.

The Business Council of Australia’s Regulation Rumble report confirms what businesses already know. In 2025 Victoria is dead last in the nation for business competitiveness – eight out of eight for three years running. We are the worst state in Australia for cost and regulation, and we rank last for cost and regulatory settings overall. This is not theoretical. It is being felt on the ground. Empty shops are spreading across our main streets and attracting antisocial behaviour, reducing foot traffic and draining life from once-thriving precincts, including strips like Chapel Street and our CBD, which has lost its vibrancy. Retail crime is skyrocketing, up 20 per cent from the year prior. Investors are turning their back on the state, and residents and small businesses owners are paying the price.

The report is very clear on why Victoria is falling behind. Victoria has one of the highest payroll tax rates in the country, at 6.85 per cent, combined with the lowest tax-free threshold of just $1 million. On property taxes, we have the highest commercial stamp duty in Australia and the highest land tax rate for foreign owners. On licensing and regulation, Victorians perform worst in the nation, with cafes facing two-thirds more licensing requirements than the best performing states, and retailers facing nearly double the burden compared to Queensland.

Governments cannot regulate their way to prosperity. The role of government is to create the conditions for success, to remove barriers, to share risks and to facilitate growth and, simply, not to smother it. Victoria has a proud history as the home of small business, tourism and major events. That legacy is slipping away. The advice is clear, credible and coming from those that know best. I urge you to listen to the Business Council of Australia and implement the Regulation Rumble 2025 recommendations so Victoria can once again be the best state in the nation to do business in.