By Tate Papworth
Brimbank is transforming.
Sunshine has been identified by the state government as a priority precinct for its strong economic and social opportunities and with it will come a raft of new jobs.
A super hub train station, touted to be bigger than Southern Cross station, will be built in Sunshine and will be a major stopping point for the long-awaited Melbourne Airport rail link.
With “endless possibilities” on its doorstep, Brimbank council is set to take its wish list to state Parliament next week.
Mayor Lucinda Congreve said jobs are high on the list.
“For the people of Brimbank, there’s a mecca of jobs there that they can come along and be a part of. They don’t build a hub and label an area a priority precinct if they’re not wanting to see the economic benefit from it,” she said.
“They want people to get off the train, they want them to come to Sunshine, they want them to work here, they want them to spend here.
“When we start talking about jobs, we’re talking the construction phase, we’re talking about applications coming in for commercial office buildings and all those sorts of things.”
Brimbank’s unemployment rate sits at 10.3 per cent, significantly above the state average of 4.6 per cent.
Additionally, about 68 per cent of local residents leave Brimbank for work every day, and 67 per cent of local jobs are filled by people living outside of the municipality.
Cr Congreve said things are going to change.
“Brimbank is transforming. In 10 years’ time it’s going to look very, very different. We’ve got the biggest investment ever coming to Brimbank so we’re trying to embrace that and leverage it across a number of areas,” she said.
“We’ve got jobs during construction, then you’ve got the jobs in managing and running, then you’ve got the ongoing jobs.
“So if we build a corporate business tower for example, there will obviously be a raft of jobs that come from that. They might not be construction jobs, they might be IT jobs, or cybersecurity jobs for people coming out of the new cybersecurity centre.”
While the projects will bring in a lot of construction work, Cr Congreve said measures were in place to ensure job opportunities continued after the projects were completed.
“For those in construction … there will be something else, it just moves,” she said.
“For us, the legacy will be giving people the skills and the experience, so when they’re [the projects] finished here they can go out and keep working.
“Let’s face it, the infrastructure builds are just going to keep going.”
