THE Nationals Leader and Regional Development Shadow Minister, Peter Walsh, has criticised the State Government’s apparent stonewalling of questions on how many Regional Development Victoria staff will lose their jobs.

Mr Walsh said that Regional Development Victoria has driven rural and regional economic development, providing jobs for the prosperity of rural Victoria and must be preserved at all costs.

Amid redundancies, and fears 130 jobs will be lost, the Training and Skills Minister, Gayle Tierney was described by the opposition to have “showed a complete lack of respect for the dire situation”.

The Minister’s response in Parliament to probing from Eastern Victoria Nationals member, Melina Bath was criticised by The Nationals.

“Her refusal to provide any detail on mooted job cuts highlighted her detachment from the plight of those affected,” Mr Walsh said.

Mr Walsh also criticised Ms Tierney’s apparent lack of leadership and ambition for rural Victoria.

“Under successive Labor Governments, Regional Development Victoria has been stripped of funding and staff to the point where it effectively no longer exists,” he said.

“When we go back to when the Liberals and Nationals were in government, we invested $1 billion for the Regional Growth Fund and it made a significant meaningful difference.”