WA backs off mining industry lockdown hit
Fly-in, fly-out workers were tagged essential workers, after WA lockdown measures threatened to disrupt the state’s powerhouse mining industry.
The WA state government has backed away from strict lockdown measures that could have disrupted the state’s powerhouse mining industry after the coronavirus leaked out of a quarantine, sparking a five-day lockdown of Perth.
The initial advice given to miners was that flights carrying workers from Perth to the Pilbara’s iron ore heartland were cancelled for the week after Premier Mark McGowan declared the lockdown on Sunday afternoon, leaving mining companies scrambling to cope with disrupted rosters, and asking employees currently on site to extend their rosters until the end of the week.
But the state government backed away from the measures late on Sunday, with lockdown orders issued by Police Commissioner Chris Dawson designating fly-in, fly-out miners as “essential workers”, clearing them to travel beyond the Perth metropolitan region.
Sources say the reversal may still delay the flights of some FIFO workers meant to travel early in the week, but will likely not otherwise disrupt mining operations.
At a press conference announcing the lockdowns on Sunday afternoon, health minister Roger Cook said the state government was in talks with the mining industry and would be “exploring what they need to do to keep their operations running”.
“This is for five days and I am sure it can be managed,” he said.
The lockdown comes after a security guard working at a quarantine hotel tested positive for COVID-19, amid concerns he had been working on a floor which included several people with the highly infectious strain of the virus that has swept across the UK.
The designation of mining and construction workers as “essential” mirrors that of the WA government’s decision in the early days of the pandemic, when it made the call to keep the state’s most important industry running.
Although the sector faced significant disruptions in the early days of the pandemic, as travel rules and testing were first put into place, the decision allowed the resources sector to power on through the worst of the pandemic lockdowns that crippled other sectors of the Australian economy.
While WA has regularly closed its borders to FIFO workers as outbreaks hit other states, the big mining companies have largely moved their workforces to WA and rising commodity prices - particularly for iron ore - and the tighter labour supply in WA have helped spur a new mini commodities boom that has helped prop up both the WA economy and treasuries of both the state and federal government.
Mining companies have also put in strict protocols for fly-in fly-out workers travelling to their remote mine sites, including mandatory testing for workers.
A spokesman for iron ore miner Fortescue said the company’s incident management team met on Sunday afternoon to consider the latest guidelines from the WA Government.
“We will work closely with all relevant authorities to ensure every precaution is taken to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 directly impacting our team, their families and the community,” the Fortescue spokesman said.
“All relevant measures will be implemented in response to this week’s lockdown as required,” he added.
News of the lockdowns in Perth comes as iron ore exports from the Pilbara face disruptions from a new cyclone approaching the coast.
The Pilbara Ports authority began clearing the harbours at Port Hedland and Dampier and Port Hedland on Saturday, sending ore carriers out to deeper anchorages before the expected arrival of high winds and heavy rains.
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