By Ros Thomas
First it was meat workers and farm labourers, then it was kitchen hands and burger flippers. Now country Western Australia is crying out for taxi drivers and is looking to hire them from overseas because there is such a shortage.
Gary Slee, who runs the Karratha-Dampier taxi service is so desperate for staff he's planning to import Balinese, Thai and Filipino drivers to man his cabs. What's more, the Department of Immigration is all for it.
"We'll bring them through here either on a short-term visa or a longer one. We could take 10 straight away," Slee says.
It's a last resort the company has turned to out of desperation.
"A taxi driver working here full-time could probably earn about $60-70,000 if they really push it. We've discussed it with the Department of Immigration and they've given in-principle agreement to it," Slee says.
In Karratha, booming thanks to the rocketing iron ore price, you can reportedly earn $120,000 cleaning the smoking room or driving your boss to the airport. The workforce is deserting small businesses needing unskilled labour for the big bucks end of town.
Gary Fitzgerald is the owner of his family's long-running pizza shop. He could hire a dozen workers tomorrow but says he too will have to bring in Filipino workers because they are happy to earn $20 dollars an hour and the locals aren't.
"It's very frustrating. There's no will to progress the town anymore. It's not Woodside's or Hamersley Iron's fault that this has happened. It's just the people who are sitting back and waiting to earn big mega dollars. What's going to happen in four or five years time when the mega dollars aren't around — they're going to come looking for us and we might not be around," he says.
Even Karratha McDonalds is resorting to Filipino workers. Townsfolk say they want their burgers and fries, but they're earning way too much money to roll up their sleeves and take a job at the fast food chain.
Union boss Dave Robinson says he simply doesn't believe Karratha can't find a workforce and says resorting to foreign labour is a cop out.
"Of course there's a labour shortage but I think what it's saying more is that we haven't done the work to ensure students and young people get the opportunities within the town," he says.
If you are interested in any of the jobs mentioned in this story contact:
The Karratha Dampier Taxi Service
Needs 10 drivers
Phone: (08) 9185 4962
Eagle Boys Pizza’s in Karratha
Needs kitchen hands and drivers
Phone: (08) 9144 1544
