City of Sunshine

{{About|a former local government area|the suburb|Sunshine, Victoria}}

{{Infobox Australian place

| type = lga

| name = City of Sunshine

| state = vic

| region = Western Melbourne

| area = 80.06

| est = 1860

| seat = Sunshine

| pop = 98,000

| pop_year = 1992

| pop_footnotes = {{cite book|title=Victorian Year Book|author=Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria Office|year=1994|page=50|issn= 0067-1223}}

| logo = 145px

| image = Old lga Sunshine.png

| caption = Location in Melbourne

| county = Bourke

| near-nw = Melton

| near-n = Keilor

| near-ne = Essendon

| near-w = Melton

| near-e = Footscray

| near-sw = Werribee

| near-s = Werribee

| near-se = Altona

| _noautocat = yes

}}

The City of Sunshine was a local government area about {{convert|13|km|mi|0}} west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of {{convert|80.05|km2|sqmi|2}}, and existed from 1860 until 1994.

History

The local area was first incorporated as the Braybrook Road District on 28 May 1860. The Braybrook Road District became the Shire of Braybrook on 27 May 1871. In May 1916 and again in February 1951, parts of the shire were annexed to the neighbouring Shire of Melton. The Shire of Braybrook was proclaimed a city on 16 May 1951, and was renamed to the City of Sunshine.{{cite book|title=Victorian Municipal Directory|year=1992|publisher=Arnall & Jackson|location=Brunswick|pages=502–503}} Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.

Labor Party candidates were successful in most Sunshine Council elections, although Independent candidates were frequently elected. The only endorsed Australian Democrats candidate to be elected in a municipal election, Joe Cilmi, was successful at the City of Sunshine. Cilmi, aged 21, was elected to the Sunshine City Council in August 1982, although he only held office for one three-year term.Ainsley Symons (2012), "The Democrats and Local Government. Were they ever a threat to the ALP?" in Recorder (Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne Branch) No. 274, Page 7 The city was managed by a state-appointed commissioner, Alex Gillon, from November 1976 until 1982, after the elected council was sacked by the state government for its financial mismanagement.{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|publication-place=Melbourne, VIC|title=Cabinet likely to consider restoring polls|author=Bill Birnbauer|page=4|date=5 February 1982}}

On 15 December 1994, the City of Sunshine was abolished; the western part of the city, including Sunshine itself, was merged with parts of the City of Keilor, into the newly created City of Brimbank, with the eastern part merging with the City of Footscray, to form the newly created City of Maribyrnong.{{cite book|url=http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/76E601D6DB55E88ACA25722500049195/$File/12570_1994-95.pdf|title=Victorian local government amalgamations 1994-1995: Changes to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification|author=Australian Bureau of Statistics|author-link=Australian Bureau of Statistics|date=1 August 1995|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|pages=4, 8|isbn=0-642-23117-6|accessdate=2007-12-16}}

Council met at the City Hall, in Alexandra Avenue, Sunshine. The premises is used today as municipal offices for the City of Brimbank.

Ruth Atkins in her book Albany to Zeehan: a new look at local governmentsAtkins R (1979: 40-48) Albany to Zeehan A New Look at Local Governments, The Law Book Company, Sydney dedicated a chapter to the activities of the City of Sunshine during the period 1972–1976.