Rita Panahi: The Labor brains trust may say Victoria is ‘flying’ but the truth is it’s diving
Jacinta Allan’s Labor government is inhabiting a parallel universe if it thinks debt-riddled Victoria — with soaring insolvencies and fewer business start-ups than elsewhere — is “going gangbusters”.
Rita Panahi
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In the parallel universe inhabited by members of the Jacinta Allan government, Victoria is firing on all cylinders.
They claim that far from being debt-riddled and high-taxing, Victoria is leading the nation in providing favourable conditions for businesses and investors.
A new report sheds further light on the state’s perilous financial position with Victoria not only having the highest debt of any state or territory and a soaring number of insolvencies but also fewer business start-ups than other states.
“We are going gangbusters as an economy, I mean if you look at it, state of the state, we are flying along, the economy is really strong, and we are the engine room of the national economy,” said assistant treasurer Danny Pearson who appears to have developed a side hustle in stand-up comedy.
Sadly, one of the few sectors “going gangbusters” is insolvency work, with data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission showing the number of insolvencies in Victoria soared by 29 per cent in 2023.
As the Herald Sun reported this week ‘Victorian business is going backwards with the number of new start-ups trailing every other state and territory’.
During the same period that NSW saw an increase of 13,000 new businesses and Queensland added 7,600, the garden state went backwards by 13,000, according to analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data by the IPA.
Businesses are struggling with high taxes, a needlessly complicated regulatory environment and significant uncertainty.
Chief executive of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Paul Guerra told the Herald Sun business confidence was low in the state. Sky News editor Ross Greenwood blames the extra impost the Allan government is placing on businesses such as payroll and land tax for adding to the current malaise.
“The reality is that the rate of failure of businesses in Victoria is higher than any other part of the country,” Greenwood said.
It’s not just the business sector that is suffering in Victoria and opting for greener pastures. Mum and dad property investors are increasingly looking elsewhere too, adding further strain to the already stretched rental market.
The Victorian government’s land tax grab has seen an increasing number of landlords selling or refraining from further investment in the state. According to one report released late last year one in four Melbourne property investors sold a property last year, reducing the pool of rental properties and doing little to curb price growth.
Leading property expert Simon Pressley who runs what has been named Australia’s best buyer’s agency, Propertyology, has advised his clients to no longer invest in Victoria citing exorbitant state taxes and “Australia’s most onerous rental legislation”.
But according to the state Labor brains trust “we are flying”.
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