New employment statistics have led federal and state MPs to label the situation in Broadmeadows an “unemployment crisis”.
The Department of Employment’s Small Area Labour Market figures for the June quarter were released last week.
Broadmeadows was singled out in the report for a significant hike in its jobless rate, which rose from 19 per cent to 26.4 per cent in the year to June 30.
It was the second-biggest jump in the nation, after Albury.
Unemployment rose in Campbellfield and Coolaroo from 18.8 per cent to 22.9 per cent and in Meadow Heights from 18.6 per cent to 22.9 per cent.
Federal MP for Calwell, Maria Vamvakinou, said the “terrible” figures showed a “catastrophe is unfolding”.
“They’re a recipe for social disadvantage on a massive scale, with the certainty of crime, drugs, and mental health problems to follow,” she said.
Ms Vamvakinou said she was particularly concerned that the figures failed to show the full effects of the hollowing out of the local manufacturing base.
According to a 2012 report, Manufacturing in Melbourne’s North: Now and into the Future, manufacturing is still the largest regional employer in Melbourne’s north, employing 53,160 workers across the region.
This was followed by health and social assistance (48,791), retail (42,188) and education (33,707).
In the wake of the figures, Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire called on the state and federal governments to become partners in the Hume Global Learning Village, which provides lifelong learning and greater opportunities for jobs.
He also called on the state Coalition to reinvest money in Broadmeadows before going into caretaker mode ahead of November’s election.
Despite the statistics showing more than one in four Broadmeadows residents is without a job, Banksia Gardens Community Service chief executive Gina Dougall said she wasn’t surprised by the numbers.
“For us, it’s just indicative of what’s happening around us,” she said. “The situation is dire and continues to be dire. The figures are just catching up with the reality.
“We’ve had some huge closures in the past few years and perhaps people who hadn’t registered with Centrelink have now done so.”
The statistics show unemployment in Hume rose 3.1 per cent a year to 10 per cent and in Whittlesea from 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent.
