Deputy Premier and Member for Gippsland South Peter Ryan will officially open next week’s Prom Coast Seachange Festival, which will feature more than 40 events to showcase the creativity, culture, lifestyle and landscape of the Prom Coast region.

“The Seachange Festival is a great example of communities coming together, pooling their talents, and building an event that draws wide attention to this magnificent region," Mr Ryan said.

“Events such as the Sunday Street Food Festival, the Port Franklin Fresh Fish Lunch and the Sustainable Farm and Food Tour are great examples of how local producers and traders can promote their wares and provide an authentic and enjoyable experience for festivalgoers.”

Chair of the festival organising committee Deb Bray said the Prom Coast Seachange Festival celebrates the Prom Coast as a region with a diversity of opportunity that made it a great place to live or visit.

“What better way to get to know an area and its community than to join in when there’s an event that showcases its people, products and places,” Mrs Bray said.

“The festival’s program of events is rich and wide-ranging and is a result of the enthusiasm and hard work of locals, community groups, traders and regional agencies in organising and supporting events.

“Equally, we have to thank our sponsors Tourism Victoria, Esso and BHP Billiton, Toora & Foster Community Bank® branches and South Gippsland Shire Council for their funding and support.”

The festival will run from April 25 to 29 and program brochures are available from a variety of local shops, galleries, cafes and from Bendigo Bank branches.

Mr Ryan will officially open the festival at 6pm on Friday 26 April at the Foster War Memorial Arts Centre.

Further details about events and bookings can be found online at www.promcoastseachangefestival.org or via the festival’s Facebook page.

Media contact: Stephanie Nicholls 0437 108 870 stephanie.nicholls@parliament.vic.gov.au. Read More

North eastern Victoria is primed for business over the upcoming Easter period, Deputy
Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan said today. Read More

The economic value of volunteering to Victoria has grown by over 130 per cent in 15 years according to new research from the University of Melbourne.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan today released The Economic Value of Volunteering in Victoria report which highlights the enormous contribution volunteers made to the state.

“This new research clearly highlights the economic value of volunteering in Victoria at $16.4 billion in 2006, up from $7.1 billion in 1992,” Mr Ryan said.

“The economic value of volunteering is calculated by combining the time given to both organised volunteering through an organisation together with informal volunteering, such as care for family, friends and neighbours, travel time and other associated costs.”

Mr Ryan said the work of volunteers was fundamental to communities in both regional and city areas.

“Regional Victorians contributed approximately $2 billion dollars to their communities in terms of organised volunteering, which equates to a contribution of approximately $1,890 per adult.

“Meanwhile, Melburnian volunteers contributed around $2.8 billion to the Victorian economy, which equates to a contribution of approximately $1,001 per capita.

“By any standards these are significant contributions that make an enormous difference in our communities.”

Other key findings of the research include:

· Volunteers provided a volume of work equivalent to 260,500 jobs in 1992 rising to 359,100 in 2006. This is equivalent to an additional 13.4 per cent people employed in Victoria in 1992 and 14.2 per cent in 2006;  Read More

Deputy Premier and Member for Gippsland South Peter Ryan today encouraged Victorians with a broad range of skills and backgrounds to play a role in the arts funding process, by nominating to be part of Arts Victoria’s Advisory Panel Register.

Mr Ryan said Arts Victoria is the Victorian Government’s arts funding and advisory body and manages a range of arts funding programs that provide support to both emerging and established artists and arts organisations across Victoria.

“The Arts Advisory Panel assists in the grants process by assessing applications and making recommendations to the Government on which projects should receive funding,” Mr Ryan said.

“In addition to representatives from within the arts sector, Arts Victoria is seeking panel members with a broad range of skills that are complementary to the arts such as business, education or research, legal or community affairs.

“Being part of Arts Victoria’s Advisory Panel Register is a chance for representatives from all sectors of our diverse community to have a say in how arts funding is allocated and ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent in ways that provide the best results for the Victorian community.”

Mr Ryan said Indigenous persons, people with a disability, young people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and those living in regional areas are encouraged to nominate.

Premier and Minister for the Arts Ted Baillieu said: “Just as art can have impacts across a wide variety of sectors, including, health, education, justice and community development, it is important that these sectors also feedback to the arts.”

Arts Victoria staff use the Advisory Panel Register to recruit panel members – usually between 4-10 members at a time – to assess applications across a range of artforms.

Online applications for Arts Advisory Panel Register are open until Monday, 17 September 2012. For more information, or to apply, visit www.arts.vic.gov.au/panelregister.

Media contact: Ben Bulmer 0437 108 870  Read More

Victoria’s army of dedicated volunteers have been formally thanked for their contribution to the State at the launch of National Volunteer Week in Melbourne today.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Peter Ryan officially launched volunteer week celebrations during a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Red Cross Australia headquarters.

Mr Ryan said volunteers came from all walks of life and were often the lifeblood of Victorian communities.

“More than 1.5 million Victorians make a huge contribution to our local communities as volunteers, doing important work across a range of sectors such as emergency services, in health and ageing, education, social justice, heritage and culture, and sport and recreation,” Mr Ryan said.

“The courageous and sensitive support of local volunteers both during and following devastating emergencies such as bushfires and floods has been particularly highlighted in recent years.

“This year’s theme for National Volunteer Week is ‘every volunteer counts’ and there are many people in our community who know first-hand just how valuable volunteers can be, and for that we are very thankful.”

Mr Ryan said volunteers often got as much out of the experience as the communities that they supported, and took the opportunity to encourage more people to volunteer.

“Volunteers participate in a range of areas and often pick up new skills, extend networks and enjoy a sense of fulfillment through helping others,” Mr Ryan said.

“I’d encourage everyone to consider volunteering and have a look at the many opportunities that are available on Victoria’s Volunteering Portal,” Mr Ryan said.

“The volunteering portal has more than 3,500 volunteering opportunities on offer from more than 500 organisations – from fire fighting, floods recovery and lifesaving, to pre-school care, adult education, sport and recreation, health, arts, heritage, tourism and local government.”

For more information visit: www.volunteer.vic.gov.au.

Media contact: Clare Siddins 0429 507 541 Read More