Benefits for Government
People want to stay in regional mining towns. But, the cost of living, in particular the cost of housing is impacting on their ability to stay, and that’s just not fair. This needs to be sorted out, it needs to be fair. An even playing field.
Chris Adams - CEO City of Karratha
The Current Problem Facing the Australian Government
Regional mining towns are the engine-room of the Australian economy, with the mining industry contributing 11% to our national economy – that’s $199 billion each year. However, Australia’s international economic competitiveness is under threat.
The 'boom vs. bust' realities of the cities and towns that support Australia's key export industries present as ongoing challenges to mining companies. Currently, liveability disproportionately depends on these companies providing disparate wages and company subsided/provided housing to attract and retain necessary workforces. Add to this the significant costs necessary to sustain FIFO workforces and its clear to see that resource sector margins are being eroded due to the lack of a solution to address housing affordability in our regions.
As a nation, we can no longer celebrate commodity cycle revenue windfalls but ignore the individual costs and risk that are inherent in these cycles. Previous actions of governments and mining companies have not solved the counter-cyclical rent and housing affordability crises faced by the communities that are working hard to deliver valuable export revenue streams.
Currently, individuals aren’t afforded the same benefits as employers in our communities. The More Than Mining seeks to equalise tax benefits for companies and individuals, so that we can stabilise housing affordability and transform our regional communities into sustainable, thriving, attractive places to live and work.
85% of surveyed mining community residents agree/strongly agree that “the government should do more to support residents and small businesses in regional mining communities with exorbitant living costs”.
The Benefits of 'More Than Mining' Proposal for the Australian Government
For Australia to strengthen the international competitiveness of its economically critical resources export industry, support the transformation of coal communities, and enhance the attractiveness of regional town residency, it must embrace tax reform to deliver sustainable and affordable housing to the essential workforces of mining communities.
In turn, this will result in:
- Stable, mobile, replenishing labour pools enabling sustainability of businesses and supporting key resource sector projects
- Increase cost competitiveness for resource companies by reducing salary/ benefits costs
- Equitable home ownership opportunities for non-mining sector employees
- Attractive employment opportunities for long- term unemployed / unskilled
- Greater industry diversification and innovation – including resource and talent to develop infrastructure, innovation, and industry to transition to renewables
- Reduction of FIFO /DIDO environmental impacts – acceleration of resource sector carbon targets
- Increased investment from private sector into housing, land, and economic development
Smoothing out the impact of the boom-bust cycle on housing prices unlocks a cascade of economic, social, and environmental benefits, from incentivising regional relocation and reducing FIFO costs to injecting more money back into communities to ease the cost of living.
The prosperity of established industry and local businesses, First Nations communities, future growth sectors and existing communities depends on targeted tax reform that aims to normalise living costs in these regional mining cities and towns to ensure they can compete with more desirable regional destinations for relocating populations.
Want to get involved? Sign our petition or contact your local MP.