It's been about two years since Premier Daniel Andrews was last in Ballarat, officially opening the BADAC medical clinic and checking out upgrades at Woodmans Hill Secondary School.
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On Wednesday, Mr Andrews returned to Ballarat, to see completed works at three primary schools his government promised years earlier.
As much of the public has become used to, he gave reporters a 40 minute press conference, and addressed everything from the new electoral boundaries to rebooting Ballarat's struggling CBD.
It's clear that the sales pitch for the November's election has already begun, 12 months out from polls opening - there were lots of "we'll have more to say" responses, but no concrete promises ... yet.
It was also an unusual day for Ballarat, with both the Premier and federal Opposition Leader in town, but not meeting.
Below are some highlights, lightly edited for clarity but otherwise presented in full.
ON THE ELECTION:
"We don't take any seats for granted, wherever the lines are drawn.
"The people of Ballarat have been very good to us and we've done our best to invest in the hospital, in schools, in TAFE, in roads, all sorts of different projects that are about Ballarat being successful.
"We'll be working very hard regardless of what the notional margins are or where the boundaries are drawn, we'll be working very hard to make sure we earn the trust and confidence of the Ballarat community, and all those smaller communities that look to Ballarat.
"We'll have more to say, we'll have an equally positive agenda to roll out regardless of the boundaries.
"No seat should be taken for granted, we'll be campaigning across the state.
ON A NEW SECONDARY SCHOOL IN LUCAS:
"There's always thought (about building a new school), the difference with us is that we don't just think about these things, we get on and build them.
"I just drove past Ballarat High School on the way down here, we have invested in every school across this comm in one way or another, some have been big rebuilds.
"We just came from Miners Rest, I was there a couple of years ago making that commitment, we stood in a very old, what was the one school building, more than 100 years old, we looked across some paddocks, and the principal told me he had this grand plan to build these new buildings, the same architect as here, and to go back just a couple of years later to see those new buildings, and to see those kids as happy as they are with the best possible facilities, that's what Ballarat kids deserve.
"You'll see us have a lot more to say about a really optimistic and positive agenda for our kids and young people, and it's not just about the school, it's about jobs
"Today's not the day for me to make an announcement like that, but I will give you my absolute commitment I'll be back many many times between now and the end of next year, and hopefully many times thereafter to celebrate our investments and make positive and optimistic commitments for the future.
ON VACCINE MANDATES FOR AGED CARE WORKERS AND BOOSTER SHOTS:
"As it stands now, private aged care is regulated very differently to a number of other settings.
"There is a vaccine mandate, as memory serves, in September that workers had to be double-vaccinated, there'll be boosters they'll need to get because of the vulnerability of the people they care for
"We'll have more to say about boosters for frontline workers and nurses and residents and staff in aged care.
"We'll have more to say quite soon about what we intend to do in terms of the booster rollout, we're not content to leave this to others.
"If you look at the rollout of first and second doses, we had committed to doing 25 per cent of the work, we finished up doing 50 per cent at our state hubs.
"The booster program is no less important, particularly for those vulnerable cohorts, those who got vaccinated first who will fall due for their booster shot first, obviously.
"There'll be a role for GPs and pharmacies, but we'll have more to say about the role we intend to play also, whether the federal government necessarily wants to do that or not, I think there is a role for us to play, just as it was with the first and second dose.
ON BALLARAT'S RAPID GROWTH IN DELACOMBE:
"The key point there is you have to make sure you invest each year, every year.
"It's no good having a whole bevy of promises and not doing much about it.
"I'm standing here in something we committed to build a few years ago and we've done it, we had a global pandemic in between, but what a great credit to this school, to run a school and a building site at the same time is not easy.
"We'll have more things to say in the next 12 months, we've got a budget coming up very soon, Ballarat got a very strong showing in this budget and the one before that.
"We'll have a lot more to say about a plan for Ballarat - all of Ballarat.
"Growth is a challenge, but it's a great challenge to have, it's much better than some parts our country, and some parts of the world, where people are not happy to be there, they're moving away.
"That growth is strong, we understand it, and that's why we've made some of the investments we've made, and that's why we'll have an equally ambitious and really strong programs of investment.
"It'll come from listening to the local community - whether it's the secondary college or a raft of other things.
ON COUNCIL'S CONTINUED PUSH FOR LINK ROAD STAGE 2:
"We were driving past the Ballarat West Employment Zone, and on the Link Road - I couldn't tell you the last time I was on that, it's been a very strange couple of years, (this is) my first visit out of Mulgrave and the city where i spend a couple of days working - I haven't been to Ballarat for a very long time.
"Everything is on the radar, everything is looked at, anything and everything that's important to the people of Ballarat, my team in Ballarat will make sure I know about it.
"There'll be a lot of promises made over the next couple of months.
ON THE UNVACCINATED - THOSE WHO CAN'T AND THOSE WHO WON'T:
"People who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons, someone who was immunocompromised, for the purposes of matching up the services Victoria app and immunisation registry data, they're treated as if they have had first and second dose.
"There is a bias against those who have chosen not to do what hopefully 94-95 per cent of people have done or are doing.
"They've made a choice, and with respect, I say they've made the wrong choice, they've made a choice to dramatically increase the odds they'll end up in hospital in a bed that should go to someone who's had a heart attack, or a stroke, or is suffering cancer, or whatever it might be.
"For those who cannot be part of the program for whatever reason, they have to go through a process, then they're treated as if they were part of the program, so there's no sense of bias against them.
"But those who've made a choice, and again, I say respectfully, the wrong choice, in my humble judgment, that number's getting smaller and smaller.
"Keeping the vaccinated economy is important, people often work to deadlines, they're motivated when they can see a direct benefit and there'd be a direct cost if they weren't part of that program.
"Having done one and two, the third shot is just as important.
ON THE WESTERN VICTORIA TRANSMISSION NETWORK PROJECT:
"I'm very well aware of the issue.
"We have an EES process, a consultation process that the proponent has gone and engaged in over and above that EES process, let's let that run its course.
"People can have their views, and can have their views heard, and I'm very keen to make sure that EES process is a deep and meaningful engagement with as many people as it possibly can be.
"I understand there'll be strong views.
"There's the work the proponent is doing and then ultimately AEMO will have to make its own judgments.
"I absolutely understand and acknowledge there are different views, they are very strongly held, but my job is to make sure the EES process is a thorough one, and it'll be for others - it's not a state government matter, but that part of the process is essentially run by us and we want to make sure people have their say.
ON WHEN LYDIARD STREET WILL REOPEN:
"I look forward to making some very positive announcements about that soon, both temporarily and permanently.
"It's been a long time, but it's been a complex issue, and it has been very difficult.
"I thank everyone who's put up with that obvious inconvenience.
"It started with an accident, we all know that ... but sometimes things are more complex than the might seem, and i think for everyone who's put up with that, we'll have some positive news very soon.
"Some things appear, on the face of it, very simple, sometimes they are not, sometimes there are all sorts of other issues, whether it's where the crossing is located, where the derailment is done, the damage done, heritage issues, there are many issues here, but we'll have a positive announcement soon.
"It's being done as fast as it can be, it seems like a long time, but sometimes these things are a lot more complex than it might look.
"It's right in the middle of a very important city, it's not out in some wide open space, it's more a little bit more challenging than some other examples.
"Is heritage holding the city back? No, I think the heritage values of this city are second to none, and an amazing asset, they need to be protected.
"The history of this city is impressive, critical to our state's history, but it's the future that we're focused on, and I think you can be respectful of the past but also have something that's safe, I don't think they are mutually exclusive.
"This has been a challenging year for a number of reasons.
"Fixing that damage is sometimes really simple and it can be done in a couple of days, sometimes it's much more complex, the important point to make here is very soon we'll bring this issue to an end, and i'm very pleased about that.
ON REVITALISING BALLARAT'S CBD:
"The CBD of regional cities, and Melbourne, is going to look different in the years to come.
"My approach has always been, I'm not here to tell traders in Ballarat this is how it's going to be, but I am here to listen, and through my team I have a really good understanding of these last couple of years have been about.
"I'm not here to make announcements about trying to revitalise or do those sorts of things.
"I want that to come from the very people who will benefit from it, and that's from the first instance, businesses who employ people, and customers who go and buy stuff and have all sorts of experiences.
"It's got to come from Ballarat to us."
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