Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I draw the attention of the House to the effect that fly-in fly-out workforces are having on our regional communities. Towns like Emerald, Moura, Blackwater and Gladstone are being threatened both socially and economically by this practice of large mining companies and their contractors. Last week a meeting in Moura, attended by 230 local residents, put a strong case to the state government to intervene to ensure that the mining companies and their contractors consider the wellbeing of local communities first and foremost.

The recent decision of the Queensland government to allow mining companies in Moranbah to allow 100 per cent of the workforce to be fly-in fly-out is a dangerous precedent. I am not saying that a component of fly-in fly-out workers is not warranted—it is—but workers must have the right to choose. Some have suggested that a 70 per cent fly-in fly-out component mixed with 30 per cent living in the community would at least give these communities a better chance of survival. The current roster system of allowing four days of work, one pyjama day and five days off means that workers will continue to treat regional towns as dormitory suburbs. Moura has 90 homes on the rental market for as little as $150 per week and the town generally lacks the confidence it needs to plan for the future.