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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-29 Daily Xml
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OLYMPIC DAM EXPANSION

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Industrial Relations a question about fly-in fly-out and drive-in drive-out workplace practices as they relate to the Olympic Dam expansion.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: The minister would no doubt be aware that currently there is a federal inquiry into FIFO and DIDO practices, and there are growing concerns both in the community and obviously represented in the media, most pertinently on Four Corners last night. Issues of FIFO-DIDO workplace implications—where workers are hot bedded and often suffer from loneliness, drinking, depression, and gambling, as well as their families suffering—also have implications for those mining communities that are in the so-called 'two track' economy, when it becomes incredibly expensive to live there, where the workforce is lopsided, and where we see some of the worst examples of rapid socio-demographic redefinition. Outcomes include increased levels of violence and sexual assault also being reported. My questions are:

1. Given that in Queensland in the 1970s then premier Jo Bjelke-Petersen told mining companies to build towns or they would not be able to dig up the so-called 'black gold'—and that is, in fact, why those communities are there—yet 40 years later Moranbah, for one, has morphed into a big miners camp, housing prices have gone through the roof, businesses are collapsing and families are in crisis, what guarantee does the Minister for Industrial Relations have that the Olympic Dam expansion will not see similar outcomes?

2. What is the maximum number of FIFO or DIDO levels this government will accept for that project? How will it guarantee that into the future?

3. Will unions be given access to the workforce and the workplaces there?

4. Will there be a commitment to a percentage or number of family homes in this project?

5. How will this project be conditioned to meet the needs of the community around it and create rather than corrode that community?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for her very important questions; the issues the member raises are very important and need to be sorted out in the not too distant future. They are very complex, and probably cover quite a number of different portfolios, so I will take them on notice and ensure they get to the appropriate ministers. With regard to unions having access and the like, they currently do have access to various mining sites, and I cannot see any reason why that would change going forward.

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