IT WAS a relief to hear the Member for Buninyong, Geoff Howard, saying something in State Parliament last week.
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He stood up to ask the Minister for Employment to organise a jobs forum in Ballarat. I welcome this.
However, Ballarat residents would welcome it even more if he brought the 600 jobs from VicRoads with him.
The relocation of the VicRoads headquarters from Melbourne to Ballarat was promised more than a year ago by the Coalition Government and for good reason.
It would deliver 600 jobs and inject $60 million into the local economy every year.
Mr Howard also went on to mention the Andrews' government's purchase of 30 carriages from Ballarat train manufacturer, Alstom. It's another worthy mention, but less than half of the carriages again promised by the Coalition.
Finally, if Mr Howard is so keen to create jobs in Ballarat, perhaps he could talk to local employers about the impact of the additional public holidays announced by his government. The Easter Sunday public holiday and grand final Friday will hurt small businesses, squeezing them even further.
Many will close on those days that's bad news for jobs, confidence and tourism.
If Mr Howard really cares about jobs in Ballarat he could do these two things relocate VicRoads and get rid of the additional public holidays.