Search the Community

Indian mining giant Adani has promised thousands of local jobs for Townsville and Rockhampton residents to work on its massive Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin. Adani announced it would split its fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workforce between the two cities and has promised to pay each council a rebate if it hires a non-local. But the Labor Member for Gladstone, Glen Butcher, said his city felt ripped off after backing Rockhampton's bid for the FIFO hub but scoring none of the locals-only jobs. So who will get the jobs? Townsville City Council said it would receive 2,100 jobs. This breaks down as 1,200 jobs in the construction phase and 900 FIFO and head office jobs once the mine is built. Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill broke it down even further. Rockhampton Mayor Margaret Strelow said her city was promised 1,700 jobs. She said this included more than 1,000 jobs as part of the construction phase and a minimum of 600 ongoing mine jobs. How will councils ensure locals are getting the jobs? In a statement, Townsville City Council said it had this covered. The council said it had established processes to regularly audit and review Townsville's Adani job placements. "A regular audit will be undertaken to verify Townsville residential status which will be cross-matched to job commitments between the council and Adani," the statement said. A Rockhampton council spokesperson said they would audit the successful applicants to ensure they were locals. Can I live in a neighbouring council area and still get a job? You may get a job, but it will not be one of the thousands of FIFO jobs announced by Adani this week. Jobs promised to the Townsville and Rockhampton councils on Thursday would only be available to people in those local government areas. For example, if you live in Ingham, north of Townsville, you are not eligible. The decision has disappointed some people. Gladstone MP Glen Butcher said his area wrote a letter of backing for the Rockhampton Regional Council bid on the proviso the Gladstone area would get some jobs. But he said he now felt let down. "The Mayor of Gladstone is also a bit disheartened by it all, particularly their conversations and letters back and forwards of support," he said. "There is still opportunity for Gladstone people to get a job from this mine but it may have to come from a different way." Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker has also questioned Adani on where it stands on creating local jobs for local workers in her area. Her region includes the mining town of Moranbah, where many locals have already been excluded from nearby Bowen Basin mines that run on a purely FIFO workforce. "Isaac is the host region to this major project and will bare all the impacts of Adani's Carmichael Mine," Cr Baker said. However, Livingstone Shire Council Mayor Bill Ludwig said he was sure Adani would eventually extend jobs to his area. "We would expect that over the course of time, with the skill sets that are collectively in Rockhampton, Livingstone and Gladstone that there would be an opportunity for workers from all those areas," he said. In a response to questions posted on its social media page, Adani said other regional Queensland towns such as Gladstone, Mackay and Bowen were already involved in the project through construction sourcing, building the rail line and expanding Adani's Abbot Point port. Is it good enough just to have a registered local address? In a word, no. The Townsville City Council said only people who actually live in Townsville and Rockhampton will be eligible. "Townsville in particular has been hit hard by the loss of employers such as QNI and welcomes this opportunity to restore jobs and confidence in the city," a council spokesperson told the ABC. Can I move to those cities to qualify for a job? Yes, that works. Cr Strelow said people who chose to move to the Rockhampton council area for a job would be eligible. The same applies to Townsville — if you are willing to move, you are eligible for one of the 2,100 positions promised there. "We look forward to welcoming new families to Townsville and offering hope to those locals who have done it tough in recent times," the Townsville council spokesperson said. What if there are not enough locals to meet the job quota? Adani has agreed to pay Rockhampton and Townsville councils a rebate for every job they do not fill with a local resident. The ABC has been told the amount of that rebate is commercial in confidence. The Townsville council spokesperson said if there was not enough skilled locals, Adani would encourage skilled people to move to the area. "Where gaps are identified, Adani will work to attract people with the required abilities to Townsville in order take up the positions and contribute to the local economy," the spokesperson said. Don't FIFO laws prevent hiring based on postcode? Yes, but it does not apply to remote mines. Mines further than 125 kilometres from the nearest town are exempt from the law, so the Carmichael Coal mine can hire from certain postcodes and will be allowed to hire a totally FIFO workforce.