Victorian Premier Denis Napthine says the state’s WorkCover Authority head office will move to Geelong if the Coalition government is re-elected.

The current Premier’s bid to keep his seat took him to Lorne over the weekend, where he said the move would bring 550 jobs with it, to pump $50 million into the local economy each year.

The city of Geelong has been hit by the contraction of a number of Australian manufacturing companies. The state government appears interested in propping-up employment rates by shifting some government services outside of the capital.

The Transport Accident Commission was recently moved to Geelong, and will soon be joined by the headquarters for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

“We will have a centre of excellence in dealing with insurance, disability services and dealing with those people who have insurance claims,” Dr Napthine says.

The Premier said workers who did not want to move to Geelong would be offered some options in the broader public sector.

Community and Public Sector Union secretary, Karen Batt said the shift would only shuffle existing jobs around without creating any new ones. Ms Batt claims around eighty per cent of WorkCover staff will not move, compelled instead to accept redundancy.