Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is about one month away from Christmas, and today I urge coal giant Anglo American not to destroy the town of Middlemount by sacking 83 workers. I understand that 83 people will soon be told to take a forced redundancy from its permanent workforce at German Creek mine. This would further devastate the dwindling town. Last week I met with some of the people who lived at Middlemount and worked at the German Creek mine. Following that meeting I personally called the company bosses to express my concern on behalf of the town of Middlemount.

Middlemount has taken a battering with the closure of its only bank, the closure of small businesses and the loss of many schoolteachers as the town goes backwards from the mining slump. Given every worker with a spouse and two children, it could mean as many as 300 to 400 people could be forced to leave Middlemount. Because the company owns many of the houses, families fear they may face uncertainty just one month out from Christmas about where they are going to live if they lose their jobs.

Our small Central Queensland coal town faces a double whammy with the potential loss of permanent workers on one hand and an increase in casual contracts on the other. Casualisation of the coal workforce is a further issue leading to the demise of country towns in Central Queensland. As a result, there is much uncertainty in many small towns in Capricornia's western coal belt. It is a two-edged sword. People without permanency have no stability in their life. As a result, banks will not lend people money, many businesses are closing and schools and health services are dwindling, because the population is shrinking.

Coal prices are starting to rise again, but there appears to be a push to put vast numbers of workers on casual contracts where they have no holiday leave, sick leave or family leave. This means they have no pay packet to take home if they fall ill. I have already raised this issue in the Nationals party room, and today I make this pledge: casualisation is an issue that I will continue to raise here in Canberra with the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia and other senior leaders on behalf of Central Queenslanders. It is an issue that the Liberal-National coalition cannot afford to ignore.

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