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24 November, 2004 Buy in the bush and give your kid a job Mums and dads throughout regional Victoria are being urged to buy presents locally this Christmas... and help secure jobs in the bush for country kids. Champions of the Bush Executive Officer Darren Chester says country parents should think carefully before heading off to Melbourne to do their Christmas shopping. "If you buy locally, the buck stops in the bush and you will be doing your bit to help country communities prosper in the future," Mr Chester said. "Every dollar you spend in a regional town, helps a local business owner to make a profit and hire local people. "If you decide to support MelbourneÕs department stores and suburban shopping centres, you will be helping to create more jobs in the city." Mr Chester said shoppers across Victoria will spend billions of dollars on presents and food for Christmas with the Australian Retailers Association forecasting a nation-wide, $27 billion spending spree in the last six weeks of the year. "Victoria's share of that is expected to be about $6 billion... and people who live in regional areas would have to spend more than $1 billion," Mr Chester said. "We've got a clear choice. We can use our money to help create a mini economic boom in the bush, or we can spend it in Melbourne and have nothing but empty boxes after Christmas. "If we are serious about generating growth in regional communities we have to use our spending power to help make country businesses profitable. "These are the businesses that we rely on every week to make donations to community groups and sponsor local sporting clubs. "At this time of the year, the best thing we can do as consumers is head down to our local shopping centres and invest in the future of our country towns." Mr Chester said people in rural or remote areas could access everything they needed in the larger regional centres without the need to travel long distances to Melbourne. "There's no doubt that some of the small towns may not have the range you are after but the larger regional centres have as much to offer as any city shops, and usually better follow-up service," Mr Chester said. "Give the local traders a go and you might be surprised how it helps your region to prosper." Media
information: For further comments contact Darren Chester on 0351 55
3719 or 0412 153 719. Richard Rijs on 03 51 52 6448.
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