Hotel and hospitality owners say FIFO camps coupled with cost-of-living crisis have left them ‘suffering’

Hotel and hospitality business owners in Kalgoorlie-Boulder say they are financially “suffering” as mining companies and contractors pull their employees out of the CBD and into mining camps. Palace Hotel owner Ashok Parekh said his business has gone from almost full capacity for two years straight to now having 70 per cent vacancies after FIFO workers were shuffled into mining camp accommodation. While he ideally would like to see tourism booming and visitors filling hotel rooms instead, Mr Parekh said companies pulling all of their FIFO workers into camps was causing local businesses to suffer. He said the owners of Hannan Street eateries had revealed to him they had recorded a 25 per cent decrease in trade since May because of FIFO workers relocating out of the CBD and into camps, and they were now “struggling to pay their rent”. “These people don’t leave the camps now, they don’t even come into the city so there’s no money spent in Kalgoorlie,” he said. “The busiest bar in Kalgoorlie is at the airport for FIFO workers. “We would love to see tourists back in there but there seems to be a misconception still that everything is booked out, but that’s not the case anymore.” Mr Parekh said he could see the need for FIFO camps but believed the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder had gone “overboard” with approvals. “The council is supporting these bloody camps and these hotels that have been here for 50-100 years ... you’re screwing them. It just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “I’d like to see the contractors support all the hotels ... not just drop them, and commit to supporting these places again because they’re empty now — we’re suffering. “If you don’t support the local businesses, then everything will close down and you’ll have another Menzies or Coolgardie if they don’t do it.” Mayor Glenn Wilson said concerns about the impact of mining camps were “understandable” but the city had received no indication accommodation providers were struggling to fill vacancies. However, he encouraged businesses with FIFO workforces to engage with local businesses to collaborate on solutions which would benefit the local economy. “The city is in a delicate position, balancing the immediate needs of our community with the long-term benefits of economically stimulating projects,” he said. “Whilst council will always support a residential workforce, we do understand industry’s need for temporary workforce accommodation to support specialist roles filled by workers outside the region, especially for critical, short-term project phases like shutdowns or construction. “Despite these developments, our housing vacancy rates remain low, highlighting the ongoing housing crisis impacting not just Kalgoorlie-Boulder but the entire country.” Umer Saleem, who owns three cafes, said small businesses were suffering from the impact of mining camps. “When they have a mining camp, people come, they work 12-hour shift, and they go back, eat their food inside the camp then they go back to work and they fly out, so the money is not rotating within the community,” he said. “We know we have gold, they are making money out of this town and they’re not spending here, which is really painful.” Plaza Hotel general manager Jai Bhardwaj said townships elsewhere in WA had been “spoiled” by FIFO and Kalgoorlie-Boulder should have learned not to have too many camps. He said he understood why mining companies might need to use camps for temporary accommodation but believed it should not be a permanent solution. “My views are camps have never helped a town in the past, and then they never going to help the town,” he said. “The people who are living in those camps — it’s not a quality accommodation ... it’s not for good, for the mental health of the people who are living there. “Then for the town they are flying in, going to those dongas and then going back. They’re not going into the town, seeing the parks, going to the restaurants, meeting people it’s not helping the town in any way.” Mr Bhardwaj said high payroll expenses and costs which continued to go up were already making it hard for businesses to operate. “Sooner or later, maybe the hotels or competition providers will shut their business because they cannot survive, and all that will be left will be the dongas and camps,” he said. Kalgoorlie Hotel owner Craig Alderdice said the increase in camps might have contributed to the decrease in foot traffic on Hannan Street, but he believed the cost of living was having the biggest impact on the pub’s bottom line. He said the six months from mid-February were the worst the pub had ever had. “We thought it was just the cost-of-living crisis and I think it still largely is, but it just seemed like people weren’t going out anymore and were looking after their money,” he said. “Some weeks we were 50 per cent down, but we have almost got back to where we were before that, things are picking up again. “But FIFO workers don’t go out, they don’t spend money. “It’s tough because while we need them (FIFO workers) on one hand, we really don’t want them on the other.” Mr Alderdice called on the Government to pause the six-monthly beer tax increases — which he said were largely affecting local pubs — for at least 12 months to help publicans catch their breath.