No Mere Coincidence as FIFO Increases while Corruption Threatens
Friday 19 April 2013
Greens WA spokesperson on Local Government matters and Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple MLC, today shared the mood of disquiet as alarm bells rang through Pilbara shire councils in the wake of this week’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) report into the potential for corruption.
“The pressure on local government in the Pilbara has been building for some decades now, and the State government should not be surprised at the contents of this report,” Mr Chapple said.
“I know the good people who constitute the Pilbara’s hard-working local councils do a tremendous job on behalf of their communities. As a former councillor, a local MP, and the Greens WA spokesperson on Local Government, it has been my pleasure to work with them over many years.
“Year after year, Councils in the Pilbara have bemoaned the steady drain of talented staff to the lucrative mining sector, while the struggle to attract replacements just gets more difficult.
“The State government’s Royalties for Regions spending, while welcome in that it has led to some much-needed infrastructure development, has nevertheless left many councils saddled with crippling maintenance liabilities.
“In the same week as this CCC warning, figures published by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA show that the numbers of Fly-in, Fly-out (FIFO) workers in WA have nearly doubled in just a few years.
“While FIFO can undoubtedly be beneficial to many of the individuals concerned, seen in the context of this CCC report the glaring financial inequity of FIFO for Councils is clearly exposed. How can they be expected to provide and maintain services for this huge transient population, which contributes little in the way of rates income?
“Little wonder then, that the CCC has pointed to the insidious influence of cashed-up resource giants”, Mr Chapple concluded.
