Local employment is part of Brewarrina council’s success

Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton (centre), inspecting the Goodooga Road works on Tuesday with Bre Councillors and staff – Clr Vivian Slack-Smith, GM Jeff Sowiak, Shane Peterson, Conn Turnbull, Mayor Phillip O’Connor and Clr Angelo Pippos. Photo contributed

The Brewarrina Shire Council is setting a high bar for local employment, with road works, infrastructure and grant funded projects opening up multiple opportunities, especially for indigenous people in the shire.

Brewarrina Shire Council General Manager, Jeff Sowiak, said the recently announced upgrade to the area around the fish traps, community asset improvements and major roadworks meant there was a higher percentage of indigenous people employed in Brewarrina than the percentage of indigenous people living in the shire.

“We are very proud of the fact that we have 82 per cent employment of indigenous people in our outdoor projects and 65 per cent across Council in total,” Mr Sowiak said.

“Those statistics reflect the fact that we are a welcoming community with a strong local employment culture, and we are committed to providing training and development for local people.

“It is just part of the normal operations of the Brewarrina Shire and how we like to do things.”

One of the biggest employment opportunities has been the Goodooga Road upgrade, which Mr Sowiak said would likely be finished by Christmas.

“We have about 28 kilometres left before we have the entire road sealed to the Queensland border,” Mr Sowiak said.

“Queensland has done its bit from Hebel to the border so by the end of the year that will hopefully be a sealed road right the way through.

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