“Nurses and midwives from our local area work hard taking care of patients each and every day,” Mr Perera said. “Nurse-to-patient ratios are about supporting our local nurses and making sure Victorian patients get quality care. “The Baillieu Government is determined to undermine nurse-to-patient ratios by replacing nurses and midwives with unregistered and unqualified assistants.

“Labor understands that undermining these ratios will have a detrimental impact on Victorian patients and the care they receive.  And we know that nurse-to-patient ratios work.

“Labor Leader Daniel Andrews has committed that a future Andrews Labor Government will reinstate current nurse-to-patient ratios if the Baillieu Government reduces or scraps them entirely. “We value the work nurses do across the state and that’s why Labor will protect these important workplace conditions.”

“I am hoping that people will follow my lead, and the lead of hundreds of thousands of people across Victoria including in our local area – who volunteer,” Mr Perera said.  “Some people help out with a sporting team, some people help out at a local school, some people don’t even know it, but they have been volunteering for years.

“It’s a great way to get involved in the community, and you can also lend a hand to a local group that you think does good work.

“I hope that people from across our local area can find some time to help out by volunteering.”

“It looks likely that these cuts are ontop of the $481 million cuts already made by this Government.  “TAFEs have now been forced into deciding how many staff to sack, what facilities to close and what courses theywon’t be able to offer local students any more.  “The Baillieu Government promised that no student would be worse off and front line services in our local area would not be impacted by education budget cuts, but their actions tell a different story. “These cuts have surprised TAFE and trainingproviders and will have a devastating impact on local student skills training, especially apprentices who will be hit with higher fees.”

Mr Perera said it appeared large metropolitan TAFEs could be $5 – 8 million worse off each year, and regional TAFEswill be $500,000 – 700,000 worse off each year under the Baillieu Government’s latest cuts. “The Baillieu Government has no commitment to skills education and jobs creation in our local area despite calls from business and industry groups for more skilled workers,” Mr Perera said.

Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Skills, Steve Herbert said the Baillieu Government continued to fail in education, with cuts to the Victorian Certificate of Applied Training (VCAL), TAFE and vocational training, apprenticeship subsidies and literacy and numeracy programs.

“Other State Governments are investing in skilled workers while the Baillieu Government is slashing funding that assists students become better skilled employees,” he said.  “The cuts by Mr Baillieu and Higher Education Minister Peter Hall will undoubtedly see fees skyrocket for students and there are serious concerns about student concessions now being axed.”  Mr Herbert said the Baillieu Government’s community consultation as part of the Essential Services Commission review into vocational training was a sham if the Government was making funding decisions before the consultation had started.

“It is inappropriate for Mr Baillieu and Mr Hall to implement changes before they have held promised industry and community consultations into the review.