Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Public service workforce

Adem SOMYUREK (Northern Metropolitan) (13:47): The decentralisation of public service jobs into suburban Melbourne and the regions gathered pace with the Bracks–Brumby governments in the 2000s. I recall attending the opening of the State Trustees office in Dandenong in the mid-2000s. Victoria’s planning blueprint, released in 2014 under the Liberal government, proposed to expand the decentralisation by earmarking various suburban centres to become decentralised cities outside the CBD, including Epping and Broadmeadows in my current electorate.

Earlier this month, a prominent planning firm released a new economic analysis of the benefits to Melbourne’s transport networks and local suburbs if all new jobs in the Victorian public service were located in five suburban centres. The analysis forecast over $27 billion in benefits over 30 years, including $22.4 billion in productivity improvements, $3.94 billion in transport and $1.01 billion in amenity improvements. The figures reveal that the locating of public sector jobs in the suburbs will create self-reliance and vibrant suburban centres, which will in turn lead to productivity improvements. If the government is serious about building 80,000 new homes within the next 10 years, they must take note of this study and incorporate the potential solutions contained in this study as one innovative tool in addressing the housing crisis.