DECEMBER 12, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
(Joe Mastroianni)
A pawsome effort Sunshine Primary School is doing its bit for our four legged friends this Christmas, teaming up with animal charity Pawsome Friends to make a difference. The charity, a pet rescue and re-homing group, is running its annual donation drive, calling for toys, food and medicine for dogs and cats, and the primary school is one of the western suburbs drop-off points. Assistant principal Kylie Champion, who adopted her dog River from the group, said it was an easy choice to get involved this year. “Since adopting River I’ve worked with the founder of Pawsome around fundraising, a few donations here and there, and I thought it would be good for the school to help out,” Ms Champion said. “There’s so many animals looking for a new home, and the work that Pawsome does is really something. “The school has been involved in other events this year for them, and the kids love it. “I think we’ll definitely do this again next year, and try and get some more support for these animals.” Pawsome Friends also has drop-off points in Williamstown and Werribee. Visit www.facebook.com/ Pawsomefriends or contact pawsomefriends@gmail.com for more information. Ewen McRae
JACOB, JESS AND NAOMI WITH RIVER THE DOG
Sunshine jobs crusade By Benjamin Millar Turning Sunshine into a mini-CBD hosting the west’s prime employment hub is one of the centrepieces of an ambitious plan to bring 25,000 new jobs to Melbourne’s west. Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks is chairing a new alliance working to create thousands of new jobs by transforming Sunshine, Footscray and Werribee into major employment centres. The West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance (WoMEDA) is pushing for greater state government investment in the rapidly growing region.
Mr Bracks said the alliance wants to build on the area’s existing businesses and industry strengths while targetting job and skills growth towards expanding industries such as health and education. Mr Bracks told Star Weekly that Sunshine has the potential to become “the Parramatta of Melbourne”. He said bringing the west up to the same employment and participation levels as the rest of Melbourne would add 25,000 workers and $3 billion to the state’s economy. “We can help do this by investing in health and education – that would help significantly in creating jobs in the area,” he said.
WoMEDA, launched last Wednesday, sees Sunshine as “almost a clean slate” that stands out as an employment centre due to its geographical location in the centre of the west, its strong transport network and the existing Sunshine Hospital and VU Polytechnic. The strategy recommends expansion in ageing and disability services around Sunshine Hospital, along with a focus on justice and security opportunities ranging from courts to prisons and protective services. A new Footscray Hospital on Victoria University’s Footscray Park campus is another key element.
“WoMEDA believes that co-location with Victoria University would create the opportunity for a major health precinct which would have profound impact on the community,” Mr Bracks said. WoMEDA deputy chair, VU vice-chancellor Peter Dawkins, said a new state-of-the-art Footscray Hospital on the campus would create further opportunities. “It would mean creating a world-class asset in Footscray, built around an employment and jobs cluster and the synergies between community health, private health and R&D in health, sport and active living, which Victoria University excels in,” he said.