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[Music]
>> James Freemantle: Regional Victoria offers a wealth of opportunities
in education, employment, business and lifestyles that are the envy of many a city-dweller.
But it could be quite overwhelming to research all the regions,
all the jobs, all the schools, all the opportunities
-- unless you come here.
>> Bree Laughlin: That's right James.
No need to worry, because the Regional Victoria Living Expo
brings our beautiful state together all under the one roof.
From the Goldfields to the Surf Coast, the Mallee to the mountains,
you are bound to find somewhere to fall in love with.
And me, Bree from Kerang
- well, I already feel right at home.
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>>Minister Peter Ryan: It is about jobs. It is about job security.
It is about retaining the businesses we have. It's about attracting others to come and live with us.
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>> Minister Denis Napthine: What this Expo's about
is actually convincing people who already have a belief that rural lifestyles are terrific
that there are real economic prospects in regional and rural Victoria.
What we would say to exhibitors is come here and show your wares
because there are Melbourne people and even skilled migrants and other migrants
who are very keen for the opportunities and the quality of life in regional and rural Victoria.
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>> Gary Nash: Absolutely - it's outstanding opportunities.
You can get in a really great central location, walking distance to the city,
2-3 minutes to get into your shopping centres and the like, same with your medical facilities.
It's all there within a few moments.
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>> Robert 'Dipper' Dipierdomenico: That's what the Regional Games is all about.
We've got over 600 AFL clubs in this area. And I gotta tell ya,
the AFL at the highest level have got a lot of regional players.
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>> Brad Ottens: I moved down from Melbourne down to Geelong having played with Richmond.
The first thing I noticed was the community feeling - especially a town like Geelong
- it's still a big town but you sort of feel like you're part of a country community.
[Music]
>> Julia Baulderstone: For us at Coles it's a fantastic opportunity for us to talk to customers and visitors here
and talk to them about our fresh food. Represented here we've got 11 different suppliers
representing all the different regions of Victoria.
For us it's about introducing those suppliers to our customers
and showing the excellent produce that they've got.
>>Daniel Williams: It's quality, fresh, it's healthy,
and its grown in sustainable ways.
>> Khaled El-Sheikh: You need to make people understand and appreciate the country and rural areas.
Yes we have great cities, some of the best cities in the world.
In fact, we have greater regional and rural areas.
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>> Liz Cherry: People who are coming here, they're all qualified,
they're all people who want to work in regional areas,
and the thing is they know what they want, they know what their skills are, and they're all really keen to move.
The thing that I've noticed is that talking to the people,
they're really passionate about moving to the regional areas
for a sea change, for a better life for their family,
and just a change in general from the busy, hectic pace of Melbourne.
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>> Lachlan Bruce: It's great for the other exhibitors who are the employers.
They know that regional workforces are more engaged workforces,
that people who are happy at home, who have great lifestyles, are better employees.
This event has the potential to really boost population growth right across regional Victoria.
We start talking about, not a city-state, but a state of cities.
>> Andrew Gibbs: Thirty-eight percent of employers were telling us
that they were finding it difficult to recruit people.
>> Esther Anatoloitis: I'm standing in an Eco-cubby right now and I can feel that there's children playing in it.
Eco-cubby gets architects and designers out into schools
to teach kids the principles of sustainable design by making an eco-cubby.
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>> Mark Seymour: We actually do a lot of regional touring now. So actually we've got ourselves in a really good frame
and it's all coming out of travelling in the country.
>>Visitor: We're just thinking of a sea change. We've been thinking about it probably since the girls were born - so, for the last four years.
The people have been fantastic and helpful, so yeah it's been it's been really good, yeah.
>>Visitor: Everyone's been so helpful with us. We've just been asking a few questions to a few people.
It's been really good, yeah - absolutely.
>>Hugh Koch: What we've seen this year is a doubling of the enquires that we saw last year.
I think any council which is able to take this opportunity, and to follow and track those opportunities
is what's really, really important.
It's not so much what happens here because everyone who turns up here, they're pre-qualified,
they're actually wanting and thirsting to move to regional Victoria.
>>Minister Ryan: A great thing for exhibitors is that by definition they are located in the regions,
and they need people. They need skilled people.
They need a workforce to be able to make sure that their respective businesses flourish.
>> James Freemantle: Bree this weekend we've seen thousands of Melbournians, every single one of them genuinely interested in regional Victoria.
>>Bree Laughlin: That's right James. This is the perfect opportunity for regions and businesses to showcase what they have to offer.
>>James: I wouldn't want to be the only one not here.
The two thousand and fourteen Regional Victoria Living Expo.
You've gotta be there!