Millbank, Harrowby

Millbank, Harrowby

Millbank is a declining canal and steel town dominated by the Harrow Rolling Works and its supplier network.

The median age is 47; 27% of households contain one adult and 23% include a retired former industrial worker. Eighteen wards elect a 54-seat council: Labour 31, Resource Justice 12, Civic 7 and independents 4. Federal first preferences were Labour 46%, Resource Justice 23%, Civic 15%, Development 8% and others 8%.

The workforce is 238,000 and unemployment 10.8%. Harrow Rolling Works employs 41,000, down from 96,000 in 1990; suppliers employ 28,000, the hospital 12,000 and municipality 9,400. Median full-time wage is R$38,900 and household disposable income R$55,600. Rent is R$760, home price R$128,000, heating R$3,180 and transport R$420 because shift buses have declined.

Revenue is R$4.1bn, expenditure R$4.8bn, debt R$7.6bn and backlog R$6.9bn. The town has 640 school sites, one general hospital with 2,100 beds and twelve clinics. Rail service is hourly by day and two-hourly at night; freight moves 62 million tonnes of steel, scrap and inputs. Airborne metal and canal sediment remain above state standards in three wards.

Mayor Devi Mill, Steelworkers District secretary Tomas Bank and works director Ilan Harrow dominate local politics. The Millbank Furnace remains locally owned. Disputes concern a state-backed furnace conversion, demolition versus repair of empty terraces, and whether the company or municipality must fund contaminated canal sediment.