Parliamentary inquiry into fly-in, fly-out industry

An Australian Federal Parliament standing committee has launched an inquiry into the practice of flying resource workers into and out of work sites.

The Minister for Regional Australia, Simon Crean, has asked the Standing Committee to review the FIFO phenomenon in order to determine if there are issues that need to be addressed. The inquiry will also consider the parallel drive-in, drive-out sector.

The inquiry has been aksed to cover:

* the extent and projected growth of FIFO work practices

* the impact of FIFO on individuals, communities and companies

* long-term strategies for economic diversification in towns with large FIFO workforces

* provision of services, infrastructure and housing availability for FIFO workers

The Committe will be travelling to hold regional meetings throughout rural Australia; but submissions are also invited via www.aph.gov.au/ra by 7 October.

Given the impetus that this practice has given to regional aviation activity it can be expected that the aviation industry will be keen to get involved.

There is also the probability that an increasingly 'green' driven agenda will look less than favourably on any growth in the FIFO sector, given that its carbon-producing activity is not an imperative.