CONCERNS have been expressed in Lithgow Council that Lithgow and other ‘traditional’ coalfields in NSW could experience the pitfalls of ‘fly in, fly out’ workers in the mining industry which up to now have been largely a feature of more isolated sites.
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It’s the first time the issue has surfaced publicly in the Lithgow local government area but according to speakers at the latest meeting of council the prospect is real.
And should the trend take hold it will have an adverse impact on local communities, council was told.
The issue has been raised at a time when there are ongoing concerns being expressed on the downside of the ‘fly in, fly out’ work force in mining sites in Queensland and Western Australia — some in isolated locations, others where existing communities are being squeezed dry.
The discussion followed tabling of a report to the most recent meeting of the NSW Mining Related Councils.
Mayor Neville Castle said that meeting had considered a parliamentary inquiry currently looking into the impacts of this type if ‘FIFO’ labour where jobs are available but most of the income is not spent in that town.
“They fly in, do their work, then fly back to their home to spend their money,” the mayor said.
This ‘itinerant population’ placed strains on the host community with no real benefits.
In fact it placed a strain on local infrastructure.
The fly in, fly out arrangement was particularly relevant in areas of large scale open cut mining.
Cr Wayne McAndrew, himself a senior mining union official, said the risk from FIFO arrangements should not be understated.
And he warned it could be happening sooner rather than later in council’s area.
“It’s already starting to impact on NSW,” he said.
Where this happens, he said, the councils concerned face expenditure on added infrastructure with no income benefits.
“From a council point of view there’s a lot to be concerned about,” he said.
Cr McAndrew also referred to the government’s highly controversial Land Use Policy and the rifts which have developed between the miners and the Farmers Association and green groups.
“In 37 years in mining I have never seen the level of distrust of the mining industry we now have in this state,” he said.
Deputy mayor Cr Howard Fisher said council should place on record its opposition to fly in, fly out employment arrangements in the council area.
He said the problem was already emerging in the Mudgee and Blayney council areas.
Read what councillors Danaher and McGinnes have to say in today's Lithgow Mercury.
