I rise today to speak on the Local Jobs First Amendment Bill 2025. The bill proposes changes to legislation introduced back in 2003, which requires contractors on government-funded projects to actively support local businesses, workers, apprentices and trainees. On the surface the principle is one that we do support on this side of the house, but this bill goes a lot further than that, and we do have some serious concerns, particularly for small businesses, as we heard from the member for Kew. They are behind her reasoned amendment, which is very practical, with a particular impact on regional contractors.
At its core the bill hands sweeping new powers to the Local Jobs First commissioner. These powers include the ability to carry out site inspections, conduct investigations, enforce compliance and issue a range of civil penalties for noncompliance with local industry development plans. One of the most concerning changes is the proposed deprioritisation scheme, which could see local businesses blacklisted from future government work. These penalties could be enforced by the courts, regardless of whether the business did everything it could to comply. Just to be clear, we do support the goal of giving local businesses every opportunity to win government work, but this is not the way to go about it. We will oppose this bill in its current form because right now it is all punishment, no support and limited reward. I do think that we need to support the member for Kew’s reasoned amendment. As it is, it supports jobs, it supports businesses and it supports regional Victoria to thrive.
We have received strong feedback from industry groups like Master Builders Victoria, who have said what so many of us already know, in particular about the impact of closure of businesses in regional Victoria. In most cases local targets are being met, but where they are not, it is usually due to real structural challenges like regional skills shortages and certainly not a willingness to try and comply. You cannot punish a small builder in Benalla because they cannot find a local subcontractor when the workforce simply is not available, but that is what this bill does in its current form. The enforcement regime being proposed does not take these factors into account. There is no clear pathway for the commissioner to consider mitigating circumstances before hitting a business with a penalty, and there is no fair process to determine whether a shortfall was genuinely beyond a business’s control. This is especially dangerous for smaller operators like local family businesses who do not have compliance teams or administrative capacity, and I have heard from so many local businesses about these challenges lately. They are already battling rising costs, labour shortages and an endless, suffocating amount of paperwork, and the last thing they need is to be penalised for failing to meet unrealistic targets.
We also have to question the government’s complete lack of transparency when it comes to the cost of implementing this bill, which we heard about from the member for Kew. When asked what the expected budgets and impacts were, there was absolutely no modelling, no finance and no data. But it is straightforward – we know this. If you are expecting the commissioner’s responsibility to include inspections, investigations, complaint handling, issuing penalties and facilitating dispute resolution, it is going to cost money. It is going to cost taxpayers. Where is that money coming from? Let us hope it is not more taxes, because there are also concerns over why we are investing in new enforcement powers when the department confirmed it was not aware of any past breaches or civil actions related to Local Jobs First requirements. The question has got to be asked: what problem is this legislation actually fixing? From where I stand and from what I am hearing across our region, the bill does not look like smart reform; it looks like bureaucratic overreach. But there are no surprises there.
That is why our side has put forward these reasoned amendments – amendments that would allow fairer processes for assessing compliance, particularly in regional areas, where conditions are different. We would support clearer, more practical guidelines to reduce confusion for small businesses, but we cannot and will not support a bill that does set them up to fail. That is the real disconnect here – instead of helping regional businesses succeed, the bill threatens to punish them for circumstances entirely outside of their control. We need policy that reflects the reality on the ground in regional Victoria. We need legislation that works with our local businesses and not against them, and this is what our reasoned amendment does.
Just last week we saw the devastating impact of business closures in my region. ForestOne, a major employer in Benalla, announced it will be closing its sawmill and particle board operations. This is expected to result in 140 local job losses in a community that cannot afford to lose a single one of them. These facilities produce essential materials for construction and everything from benchtops to flooring to plywood. They are shutting their doors not because they gave up but because weak markets and low prices are met with absolutely no support from government. In a statement issued by the executives, it said that skyrocketing compliance costs, unreliable power and the enormous state government tax burden are making it too hard to do business in Victoria. It is shutting its doors – 140 jobs – and this is one of so many businesses that are just absolutely drowning under the weight of the tax regime in Victoria. It is right across Victoria. It is not just regional Victoria either; it is also Melbourne. New data from ASIC shows that more than 4200 businesses collapsed in the past year. That is a 48 per cent increase on the year prior.
Over the past few weeks I have listened to small businesses across the electorate, in Euroa, Kilmore, Benalla and Broadford. I have spoken to builders, cafe owners, manufacturers, wineries and tradespeople, and they are telling me the same thing: that they want to grow and they want to hire and invest in their towns, but they are constantly held back by government. I was sent a message this morning by Tracie, a business owner in Heathcote, who said to ask businesses to share what their power bills are and what their state taxes are just to show the pressure they are under. Without our businesses, we do not have a local economy, because they give us jobs. They are dealing with endless fees, delays and hoops to jump through just to keep their doors open. The message is simple: get rid of red tape and do not add more.
I recently visited Broadford paper mill, an iconic site that has been operating since the 1890s. It employs 37 people and remains the only manufacturer in Australia producing angle board for our fruit and veggie growers. They are now focusing on their investment in Queensland. Why? Because Queensland is doing what Victoria refuses to do: it is cutting red tape, it is lowering costs and it is welcoming business. The mill is facing thousands of dollars in land tax due to split titles, a six grand charge for a modern slavery certificate, monthly power bills jumping from $12,000 to $16,000 and layers upon layers of regulation from every tier of government. And meanwhile we are importing all white and copy paper from overseas – make it make sense – often from countries with absolutely no environmental standards. This is not environmentally friendly, and it is certainly not good economic policy. This is not paperwork, it is government constantly getting in the way of economic growth. If we want to protect jobs, we have to stop punishing the people who create them. Too often I hear from business owners when they are already at breaking point, forced to step away from their work to voice their frustration and desperation.
But I want to meet with them early, and I want to ask them what we can do now on our side of the house to make better conditions in Victoria, because the Allan Labor government certainly is not listening. That is what brought me to meet Simon Meyer of Mitre 10 Kilmore. Since taking over in 2018 Simon has doubled the size of the business and now employs 30 locals. They work with some of the biggest builders in the country. From the outside it looks like a hardware store, but behind the scenes they are bringing local employment and housing to our region. Another example is ATG group in Seymour, with modular classrooms. Some of them can be seen at Seymour College. They are reducing construction times and improving outcomes. There are also hospitality leaders like Kim Short of Red Lion in Kilmore, Munari Wines in Heathcote, Kilmore Wellness Centre led by Travis Sullivan, and Suzanne and Jim Gall of Faithfulls Creek in Euroa. I will continue to listen, because this is what our community needs and this is what it deserves: a government that listens and supports business growth in Victoria.