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$1m push to go bush State hard-sell extols lifestyle
By Tanya Giles and Peter MickelburoughMELBOURNIANS are being urged to move out of the big smoke and live in the country under a $1.3 million State Government advertising campaign.
State and Regional Development Minister John Brumby said the Government wanted to encourage Melbournians to work, live and invest in provincial Victoria.
"We want people who live and work in Melbourne to consider there could be greener pastures on other parts of Victoria," he said.
The new print and television ads are the latest in a series of Government campaigns launched in the past month at a cost of about $10 million.
The largest of these is a $6.2 million campaign to promote water saving, which will run for nine months. A $900,000 television blitz to attract more nurses and a $300,000 push to publicise Victoria as a place to invest will be seen for six months and the TAC's $1 million Drive Right promotion will run for five months.
Mr Brumby said research done for the Government showed about 21 per cent of Melbournians, or 600,000 people, would consider moving to regional Victoria under the right circumstances.
"The campaign is about promoting the fact that provincial Victoria offers more affordable housing, a real sense of community and shorter commuting times to work, meaning people can spend more time with their families," Mr Brumby said.
He said if Melbournians took the plunge, regional areas would benefit from an increase in population, new businesses and strengthened economies.
It would also help to limit urban sprawl in metropolitan Melbourne.
The Make It Happen In Provincial Victoria campaign begins on Sunday.