There are fears the credits are rolling for Ballarat’s Regent Theatre, which unexpectedly shut its doors this week. The company behind the theatre, which was once the largest movie palace in regional Victoria, has gone into liquidation. Leaving movie buffs and historians devastated and looking for a way to save the iconic space.
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00:00Poor one out for those doing it tough.
00:05As a publican, the first question people ask, what's your cheapest beer?
00:08The opposition says the state is becoming a hostile place to run a business, pointing
00:13to new analysis to argue an overtaxed private sector is being used to pay down soaring debt.
00:20To the point where many businesses either can't afford to keep going or are looking
00:24at relocating their operations interstate.
00:28My biggest gripe is the payroll tax, I nearly fell over when I saw the bill, like 100,000.
00:32Making ends meet is on more than a few minds, as rumours of savage health cuts swirl.
00:39Some health staff were this week urged to turn the lights off when they leave a room,
00:43as Alfred Health scrambles to save every cent.
00:47A staff letter warned the model budget was significantly less than planned for and we
00:52will have to stop things we've been able to do and there will be less of us to do it.
00:57Many health services in Victoria are on the brink of collapse.
01:00Essentially nothing is off the table in terms of these cuts.
01:04The Assistant Treasurer refused to be drawn.
01:06We have provided record funding to our health system, again no government has invested this
01:13amount of funding in the state's history, no government in the history of Victoria has
01:17invested more into our health and hospital system.
01:21Medical groups fear there's worse to come and key services could be wound back.
01:26That includes hospital beds, including special care nursery beds, it includes services like
01:33breast screen, elective surgery.
01:36Budgets for the state's health services are still being drafted, so no changes have been
01:40finalised.
01:41But the ABC understands a clearer picture will emerge in the coming weeks.