Small business support
Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:53): (1146) My adjournment is for the Minister for Jobs and Industry. Minister, Victoria is the red tape capital of Australia. Regulations imposed by this state government have had a huge and negative impact on Victorian businesses, as was shown in the National Australia Bank’s regulatory impact analysis that the government tried to keep hidden. This report shows that in almost every industry in Victoria it has become more difficult for them to do business because of the government’s compliance requirements. When requirements change, less than half of the businesses say that they are informed about the changes that will affect them. Small businesses are most affected, and the situation is getting worse. In 2022 the NAB’s index of regulatory impacts for Victorian businesses was negative 19. Now it is negative 49, which tells us that Victorian businesses are facing the worst regulations in the country.
Over the past year Melbourne’s outer east has seen the loss of jobs in manufacturing and construction, while Gippsland has lost jobs in mining and retail. These job losses are in the very industries that the NAB report identified as the most negatively affected by the state government’s regulations. Meanwhile, the government have been sitting on another secret report, which shows that they could reduce the number of business licences, registrations and other approvals and deliver a $1 million boost to the Victorian economy. Minister, the action that I seek is for you to cut red tape and simplify the regulations so that small businesses can spend less time on paperwork and more time actually doing business.