The Courier

Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans

Lining up: Candidates Amy Johnson and Andrew Kilmartin, (Liberal) and Michaela Settle and Juliana Addison (Labor) beneath leaders Matthew Guy and Daniel Andrews. Artwork: Aaron Stewart.
Lining up: Candidates Amy Johnson and Andrew Kilmartin, (Liberal) and Michaela Settle and Juliana Addison (Labor) beneath leaders Matthew Guy and Daniel Andrews. Artwork: Aaron Stewart.

The state seats of Wendouree and Buninyong are shaping up to be some of the most hotly contested between Labor and Liberal this year.   But what do you want from the major parties? 

In a ground breaking survey , we canvassed almost 1300 responses from Ballarat residents about their priority issues for this state election.

Here are the results (click here for state wide results). 

HEALTH

Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans
Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans

Oncologist Stephen Brown says we must think bigger than Ballarat when it comes to our hospital and medical services.

Health is the most important issue for Ballarat in a Fairfax Media survey with more than 98 per cent ranking it a crucial issue.

Dr Brown, who is Ballarat Health Services clinical director medical oncology, said BHS’ mindset was a regional approach, particularly when it came to cancer treatment and support. 

BHS’ oncology has satellite partnerships to treat patients in Stawell, Horsham and Hamilton.

But as much as possible, BHS worked hard to offer the best health care it could so patients in the state’s west need not have to travel to Melbourne.

“Certainly from an oncology point of view, there are very few things we need to send people to Melbourne for,” Dr Brown said.

...We know outcomes for people further out in regional places drop.

- Ballarat Health Services Oncologist Dr Stephen Brown

“By us providing a quality service here, we are improving outcomes for all those patients too. And we have seen improvement in outcomes for people in the Ballarat and Grampians region.”

The survey also showed 71 per cent of people feel more funding was needed for public health services in the Ballarat community. 

Almost 80 per cent believe there should be greater incentives for health professionals to work in Ballarat.

Dr Brown said BHS’s oncology department was self-sufficient but is was important to keep attracting the right skills and knowledge to Ballarat to keep improving services, particularly in satellites. This was the same for surgical, orthopaedics, midwifery, cardiology and renal services.

BHS also works in a regional health services collaboration with the likes of Bendigo, Barwon (Geelong), Albury and Shepparton health, which in turn helped improve care in the Grampians.

This includes a thriving trials program for patients to take part in, rather than patients having to go to Melbourne for new treatments and trials.

“One of our challenges here is making sure people know what we’ve got here in Ballarat,” Dr Brown said.

“There is still a perception you have to do some things in hospitals in the city.”

CRIME AND SAFETY

Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans
Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans

Crime looks set to be a major factor in deciding this year’s election with Ballarat residents voting overwhelmingly for more work to be done to combat city offending.

More than 90 per cent of all respondents to the Fairfax’s state election survey listed crime as either important or very important with 70.45 per cent of Ballarat respondents saying that more was needed to be done to make the CBD safer.

This was higher than the state average of 64.16 per cent.

But businesses The Courier spoke to this week said while crime had been a major issue in the past, more patrols in recent months were helping to make to area safer, but more needed to be done to bring people back. 

One business said while the area around the Little Bridge Street bus shelter was continually an issue with fights and anti-social behaviour a regular occurrence – often between groups of youths - the mall itself had improved in recent times.

“It’s complex,” the business owner said. “It’s not just a safety issue, but a lot more needs to be done to encourage more business down here.

“We are the doorstep to the town after all, there should be a reason for more people to come in.” 

If elected, the Coalition has pledged PSO’s for Little Bridge Street and the Bridge Mall, while the Labor government has said it would leave resourcing of the area to police. 

Ballarat also saw a 68.83 per cent yes vote to having sex offenders placed on a publicly available database.

EDUCATION 

SQUEEZED: Jayden Toole takes a break from his first year psychology studies at Federation University for a quick lunch in the uni cafe. Picture: Lachlan Bence.
SQUEEZED: Jayden Toole takes a break from his first year psychology studies at Federation University for a quick lunch in the uni cafe. Picture: Lachlan Bence.

Ballarat residents value education as a high priority and are keen to see more support for students, schools, universities and further education.

More financial support for rural and remote university students would make a big difference to first-year psychology student Jayden Toole who has moved from Wagga to Ballarat to study at Federation University.

“It would allow more kids to think about the opportunities available for them,” he said.

“And there needs to be more access to jobs.”

Mr Toole receives federal government HECS support for his course fees, but has relied on savings and his parents for his living costs. Just this month he has found a part time job.

Without financial support, Mr Toole said many young people had to pass up higher education so they could work to support themselves.

More than 85 per cent of respondents to the Fairfax state election survey want financial support for regional and rural students to attend uni or vocational education.

Research has shown students who complete tertiary education in regional areas are more likely to work in regional areas after graduation, increasing the pool of qualified professionals.

The community believe the need for more funding though starts even earlier, with 68 per cent of survey respondents calling for public schools to be given more funding to improve the results of their students – but less than 40 per cent think private schools should receive government funding.

JOBS CREATION

Jobs to build Ballarat: More than 1200 respondents from across the Ballarat region gave a clear indication that jobs creation would be high on their agenda when they head to the polls this November.
Jobs to build Ballarat: More than 1200 respondents from across the Ballarat region gave a clear indication that jobs creation would be high on their agenda when they head to the polls this November.

Efforts to stimulate jobs creation in Ballarat will be high on the agenda for Ballarat voters when they head to the polls later this year, data acquired through a new Fairfax Media poll has shown.   

Of the 1235 Ballarat residents who took part in the poll, 72 per cent agreed “government departments and staff should be relocated from metropolitan areas to my community”.  

The contesting ideas present voters with two genuine options this November.  The state government has committed to creating 600 new public sector jobs at GovHub from a range of departments, while the opposition plan to shift VicRoads from Kew to Ballarat remains on the table.  

Beyond encouraging white collar public sector work in Ballarat, voters also threw their weight behind government assisting private business to set up shop outside of the city.  

When quizzed on whether private businesses should be provided with defined financial incentives to establish in my community, more than 70 per cent answered yes.   

Similarly, voters in Ballarat area gave a clear indication more needed to be done to ensure the city’s best and brightest young talent were not lost to Melbourne.   

A whopping 85.51 per cent of respondents said yes when asked if regional and rural students should receive more financial support to attend university or vocational education.  

More than 77 per cent of Ballarat voters also made clear their interest to see a growth in renewable energy jobs in the region, particularly in the wind and solar sectors.  Across the past term of government several major wind projects have begun including the Stockyard Hill, Moorabool and Lal Lal wind farms, while planning is underway for the mammoth Golden Plains operation. 

The government has been active in promoting its ambitious state energy targets, which will be scrapped under a Coalition government.  The government also recently pledged to fund a business case for a new renewable training facility in Ballarat.  

WestWind general manager Toby Geigor, whose company has been involved in a host of major wind projects in the Central Highlands region, said “whenever there’s doubt in the policy field around renewable energy jobs are directly impacted”.   

HOMELESSNESS

Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans
Listen up! Ballarat, this is what you want from our politicans

For Centrecare CEO Tony Fitzgerald, the message for the state government is clear: build more affordable housing stock in Ballarat.

In Fairfax Media’s election issues survey, just over 88 per cent of Ballarat region residents said affordable housing was an issue ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to them. 

“We don’t have houses to meet the demand, that’s the problem .. But that’s not unique to Ballarat, it’s quite relevant to a lot of regional cities,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

If we got the right level of investment, it would go in some way to reducing the incidences of homelessness.

- Centrecare Ballarat CEO Tony Fitzgerald on investment into affordable housing stock

When it comes to public housing, 66.48 per cent residents said more should be built in Ballarat to quell housing pressures for the region’s homeless population. 

Mr Fitzgerald said more cash needed to be given to rental assistance programs for those on Centrelink.

“The challenge is the difference between what they can afford on a benefit, and what the rental market is charging them,” he said.

Damage to the Ballarat-Maryborough Road.
Damage to the Ballarat-Maryborough Road.

ROADS

With a host of major roads projects leading the pre-election discussion in Ballarat, it will come as no surprise voters are looking for asphalt investment.   

Of the more than 1200 Ballarat residents surveyed, more than 95 per cent identified roads as important or very important.  

Both sides of politics will feel as though they have a good story to tell on the topic.  At the 2018/19 budget the state government committed $433 million for regional road restoration on top of $17.4 million to establish Regional Roads Victoria in Ballarat, while the first stage of the Coalition-funded Link Road was opened earlier this year.   

However with stage two of the link still to be completed and more than $80 million in VicRoads-identified upgrades required throughout the city, voters will expect more come November. 

MULTICULTURALISM

While public opinion might skew against lower rent for refugee and asylum seekers, advocates say new Australian need cheaper housing.

In Fairfax Media’s election survey, 61.78 per cent of Ballarat residents said refugees and asylum seekers should not be provided with reduced-cost rent to help solve worker and skill shortages. 

Ballarat Community Health acting manager of refugee and migrant services Jacqueline Keevins said there was a funding need “around pathways for people who are new in Australia” and additional support for “potential employers”. 

“Obviously access to affordable housing is always an issue, as it is for lots of other groups,” she said. 

Over 68 per cent said Ballarat gave ‘sufficient support and recognition’ to indigenous people and those from other cultures.

Multicultural Ambassadors as part of the 2017 Ballarat Begonia Festival. Picture: Luka Kauzlaric
Multicultural Ambassadors as part of the 2017 Ballarat Begonia Festival. Picture: Luka Kauzlaric