Australian workers living in the outer suburbs of cities need roads to get to work and business hubs developed closer to where they live.
One in five Australians who live on the outskirts of major cities are missing out, according to an alliance of councils from across the country.
With a labour force of more than 2.2 million, industrial land ready to develop and freight and transport facilities that keep Australia moving, outer urban areas only need investment in roads and services, they say.
“We’re trying to go to this new government with what works, rather than go in with a shopping list,” National Growth Areas Alliance chief executive Bronwen Clark told AAP.
Research commissioned by the organisation found modest federal spending in growth areas would significantly increase local employment and stimulate economies.
“We really need investment in business hubs, small business support and industrial support and we also need to get people to those jobs,” Clark said, adding the group wasn’t talking about billion-dollar projects.
For example, fully upgrading and extending Thompson Road in the south-east of Melbourne would open up access to zoned employment land.
The Picton bypass in the south of Sydney in the shire of Wollondilly would link the Hume and Princes Highways, ease accidents and traffic jams, and get people to employment areas.
The former federal coalition government committed $95.6 million in funding for the bypass and Clark hopes the pledge will be retained in the Albanese government’s Oct. 25 budget.
Councils are also concerned draft laws for Jobs and Skills Australia before parliament will restrict the new federal agency to helping regional, rural and remote communities, with no mention of the outer suburbs.
Australians living in outer city areas have an average jobless rate of 5.7 per cent, compared to national unemployment at 3.5 per cent, and in some suburbs the jobless rate is as high as 10.7 per cent.
Young people’s disengagement from work or study is also higher at 11.6 per cent compared to 8.3 per cent.
Many people living in these communities are also bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living crisis.
“Now is the moment for the federal government to show it sees and recognises the outer suburbs,” alliance chair Matthew Deeth said.
“In particular, the national coordination of outer suburbs infrastructure planning and investment would be a powerful step forward.”
