As a concerned resident of Kalgoorlie-Boulder I object to the proposed workforce accommodation facility on Kitchener Road. Outlined below are a few reasons for my opposition.

1.      The approval of this development is inconsistent with the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Council’s (KBC) City’s Local Planning Policy 1 – Workforce Accommodation Policy (LPP1), which states:

The Council’s aspiration is for workforce accommodation to be met, as much as possible, through residential, hotel or motel accommodation.

2.      Despite the development application report claiming that the facility will provide a net benefit to our city ‘through increased retail expenditure, supply chain contribution, recreational expenditure and surface transport expenditure’, FIFO employees have neither the time nor inclination to participate in local community life. As most eight and six and 14-day rosters usually include 12-hour shifts there is little time for them to engage in any activity outside work hours. After travel time back to camp then relaxing, showering, eating, perhaps exercising and communicating with their distant families and friends, there is little or no time to venture beyond the camp.

3.      In addition to a lack of time, and despite the availability of a shuttle bus, most if not all needs will be met by the camp including meals, accommodation, a convenience store, communal areas and exercise facilities, there is no motivation to contribute to our community. Money earned by these workers in Kalgoorlie will not be spent in Kalgoorlie.

4.      With the opportunity to work FIFO, while still maintaining one’s current employment within the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area, many workers are choosing to migrate to Perth and surrounds taking their families with them. With fewer families calling Kalgoorlie home and retirees leaving as well, other services are also reduced eg health services, education and childcare options, entertainment, retail and sporting.

5.      These changes have a flow on effect where our town becomes less and less attractive to potential new residents. For example, public service workers such as health and education staff are choosing alternative places to call home where community services are greater, varied and more reliable.

6.      As elected officials and representatives of our city, councillors should be advocating for changes to federal tax laws that find a balance between FIFO and residential workers. For example, Pubic/Private partnerships where both FIFO and residential accommodation is constructed.

We are a community that must decide what type of community we want for now and the future. Apathy and indifference will see our city’s gradual decline into merely a mining outpost. We must work together for the benefit of all.

As Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Ron Yurovich described more than a decade ago, FIFO is ‘the cancer of the bush’.