IT’S a case of media hype - while there may be a resources boom, an influx of miners in central Queensland is not fuelling a sex worker boom.
Karlaa, based in Queensland’s southeast corner, has been a fly-in fly-out sex worker for a number of years after ‘discovering’ the mining towns, and she has seen no boom. “The reasons why few sex workers travel to these areas could be down to the lack of accommodation, high price of flights, hire cars and very average accommodation,” she told the WINO. BALLOT papers are being handed out to BMA miners who weren’t sent the forms in the mail last week.
It’s the latest saga in a 16-month union-versus-company confrontation over a new enterprise agreement for 3500 BMA workers at seven Bowen Basin mine sites. Employees have already voted once on the issue last September, and resoundingly rejected the company’s offer. A six-month pilot programme that gives BMA employees and contractors access to medical care at a Moranbah accommodation village aims to alleviate pressure on town-based medical services.
BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has been running the programme at Eureka Accommodation Village outside Moranbah since February and has contracted a Mackay-based medical business to run the clinic. “BMA is aware of the difficulty in attracting and retaining medical professional in the region, and hopes the trial will relieve pressure on town-based services,” a spokesperson told the WINO.
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