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Ms ADDISON (Wendouree) (14:18): It is important that the Ballarat community continue to support each other, support our local businesses and support local jobs during this crisis. Sadly, casual employees at Sovereign Hill are already severely impacted by the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus, and many other workers across different industries will also be affected over the coming months.

We need to keep the doors open of our local businesses and protect local jobs. Commerce Ballarat’s Now is the Time campaign is encouraging us all to spend locally because we are all in this together.

Please shop in Ballarat. Please spend your money in Ballarat. Please support our local businesses, suppliers, service providers, cafes and shops. Please care about Ballarat businesses and their workforces. By doing this you are supporting your neighbours and our community.

We also need to care for our carers and health workforce. The Committee for Ballarat is urging us to share the care by supporting our frontline health workers: the nurses, doctors, cleaners, caterers, allied health professionals and everyone else who works for our health services.

If you know someone who works in our health services, please offer to give them a hand so that they can help out others. By supporting one another everyone in our community will benefit and we will get through this together.

Click here to read more of my contributions in Parliament. To access further Hansard transcripts, head to the Parliament of Victoria website.