Labor fails to deliver on 100% FIFO

OCTOBER 12, 2015: AFTER promising to end the practice of 100% fly-in fly-out mining arrangements in order to get elected, the State Labor Government has drastically failed to deliver.The Palaszczuk Labor Government made big promises ahead of the last state election, and stated in no uncertain terms that “the current practice of excluding potential workers from applying for jobs and training because of their residential postcode will not be allowed to continue”.The Labor Government’s Strong and Sustainable Resource Communities Policy went on to state ‘A Labor Government will not permit the use of 100% FIFO workforces for the operation of mines located near a regional centre or existing mining community. All existing 100% FIFO arrangements will be reviewed within the first 100 days of a Labor Government. Where a mining operation is located near a regional community 100% FIFO will not be permitted.’Their FIFO committee has now released a report stating that it ‘does not support retrospective recommendations to current project approvals’.So they’ve had a committee working on this for months, and their recommendation will do nothing to end the existing practice of 100% FIFO operations.The committee chairman, Member for Mirani Jim Pearce, has also made the absurd suggestion that the workers of Mackay should be treated as ‘FIFO’ rather than ‘local’ workers.Mr Pearce states in his introduction to this report that ‘local’ should be taken to mean ‘within the immediate area’ and not hundreds of kilometres from the operation'.So basically, as far as Mr Pearce is concerned, if you work in the mines and live in Mackay you’re as much a FIFO worker as someone who lives in Brisbane.This is ridiculous because the coalfields are part of the Mackay regional economy. Mackay has to deal with mining industry pressures such as heavy vehicle haulage, lengthy coal trains in Sarina and coal stock piles at Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay.Mackay miners are not FIFO workers, they are locals who work at mines within their local region and so they should not be treated as FIFO workers.The backflip on this issue began just days after Labor was elected when Jackie Trad stated that any change on 100% FIFO operations “won’t be retrospective”.I am now, together with Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry, going to push ahead with a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Fair Work Act to end the postcode apartheid.