THE Nationals\u2019 Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, has been meeting with local business owners across the region in a push to deliver stronger support for small and medium-sized businesses before they hit breaking point.<\/p>\n
Ms Cleeland has met with operators in Kilmore and Euroa in recent weeks, with visits planned in Seymour and Broadford in the coming days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on a mission to meet with businesses of all sizes before they hit crisis point,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo often, I only hear from business owners when they\u2019ve been backed into a corner, when they\u2019ve had to step away from the tools and walk into my office out of sheer frustration or desperation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d rather get in early and ask, what can I do now to advocate for better conditions in Victoria?\u201d<\/p>\n
The push comes as local economies reel from a sharp rise in business closures across the state.<\/p>\n
According to newly released insolvency data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, 4242 Victorian companies collapsed or had a financial controller appointed in the 2024\u201325 financial year. This marks a staggering 48 per cent increase compared to the 2863 recorded in 2023\u201324.<\/p>\n
Victoria recorded the largest percentage increase of any mainland state, with business failures nearly doubling over the past two years from 2144 in 2022\u201323.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses are shutting down at an alarming rate across our region,\u201d Ms Cleeland said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are towns Labor promised they would grow, but instead, our main streets are filling with \u2018For Lease\u2019 signs.<\/p>\n
\u201cLabor\u2019s economic mismanagement is crushing business confidence, slashing jobs, and driving long-standing local enterprises to the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cRising taxes, soaring energy prices, a broken WorkCover system, and constant red tape are making it near impossible for many businesses to survive, let alone grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Cleeland said now more than ever, local businesses needed certainty and a government willing to back them.<\/p>\n
\u201cA 48 per cent spike in insolvencies in just one year, and nearly double in two, shows Labor has completely lost control of the Victorian economy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLabor can\u2019t manage money, and now Victorian families and businesses are paying the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our economy, particularly in regional towns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t need more promises. They need lower taxes, fewer bureaucratic hurdles, and a government that listens before it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE Nationals\u2019 Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, has been meeting with local business owners across the region in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[51,1700,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-280341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114892120118012618","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}