Groups represented included paramedics, firefighters, Sandhurst Centre employees and Bendigo's maternal and child health nurses.

The protesters lapped up the media attention, waving flags and banners detailing their various causes and called on Dr Napthine to speak with them.

A gate was shut on the mob after Dr Napthine's car entered a secure area.

Dr Napthine inspected the construction works at the new theatre before leaving to announce funding to upgrade a Bendigo intersection.

Bendigo's maternal and child health nurses had planned a stop work barbecue for Wednesday but changed their plans after hearing about Dr Napthine's visit.

About 20 Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation's Victorian branch members marched from their barbecue site in Bendigo's CBD and through Rosalind Park to the old gaol/new theatre site to meet the Premier.

Nurses want wage parity with colleagues employed in nearby rural areas such as Loddon and Buloke shires.

ANMF state secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said it was important to put the issue in the spotlight.

"We're not going to ask the Premier to intervene, I think he has enough on his plate," she said on Wednesday ahead of Dr Napthine's visit.

"But I think it's just really to make the concerns of the maternal and child health nurses more viable.

"That's important.

"We expect there will be a large media presence there so it's important that people, not just in Bendigo, see this."

After inspecting progress of the construction works at the new $25.8 million state-of-the art Ulumbarra theatre complex, Dr Napthine and a throng of media representatives travelled to the McIvor Highway and Strathdale-White Hills Road intersection for a major funding announcement.

Dr Napthine annouced a $1.5 million upgrade to reduce the risks to traffic using and crossing the busy McIvor Highway.

Dr Napthine said the intersection had been identified as a high-risk site.