North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

http://www.news.com.au/national/norther ... 03f3e6c260

Sounds terrible ...

Need an LB spot down there, with a compulsory half an hour of fishing break during every shift. Only half joking, anyone have better suggestions?

I guess being away from home four weeks at a time is the problem.

Unfortunately, nothing much has changed over the past 40 years
We had to work away from home most of the time and it didn’t have any major effects on us.
That is unless you count the vast majority of fellas who did that type of work were divorced alcoholics with major mental issues.

But the money was great!

I had to work away for years, it was great! Set my family up nicely.
Maybe there's got to be a better screening process for pre-employment??

Dunno what the answer is but it's a real shame to see people necking themselves over this poop, especially when there's other people out there that would kill to get these jobs..

No pun intended.

The only addition to this I can add is that unfortunately FIFO is FIFO and that will mean extended periods away from family.

The Darwin FIFO situation is unique in the aspect that geographically, workers are located well within the vicinity of a capital city and surrounding infrastructure. By far this is one of the easiest locations to work a FIFO roster. If you've ever seen the camp facilities, they are second to none, some would say resembling a resort if you will. Sundays/public holidays off, (unless you choose to work), 8 hr day Saturday's......I've got mates down south that work these rosters building high rise apartment complexes in general construction, for half the money that these guys are getting paid.

Ultimately, these guys have chosen to do this job, accepted the roster and committed to the project. No-one is forcing them to stay if they aren't happy. I can only assume external factors are in play that also contribute to suicidal rates.

Yes, its sad, families suffer as well as workers.

My biggest gripe is when media outlets splash all over their front pages "Inpex" this and "Inpex" that. JKC are responsible for building the plant, Inpex has no control over the project until structures are officially handed to them. Contractual disputes or people getting laid off, this has nothing to do with Inpex and everything to do with JKC as they struggle to meet deadlines and contractual agreements. Think of it as a contract between home buyer (Inpex) and builder (JKC).......if the builder's plumber doesn't do what he's required to do, then the builder gets another plumber that will do the job. The home buyer doesn't care about that stuff. He just wants the house he's paid for, built to the specification he's paid for, on or around the time that's been agreed to between the 2 parties.

Enough about the whole "Inpex was bad for Darwin" and "Darwin's gone backwards".....the same was said about Bechtel building DLNG. The amount of contracts awarded and jobs given on the project are phenomenal. You'll always have disgruntled people, but by far, many locals have said positive things about the project.

Just my take on things.......glass half full rather than glass half empty the way I see it.

Richie

Suicide is a tragedy always and I agree with the comments above.

Money is a big trigger for depression and I more symethetic to the working poor in this country. Wages have stagnated yet cost of living continues to rise. Working to provide for your family and trying to keep your head above water. These are the folk I feel for.

Agree that they have chosen the big $ and all that goes with it.
Always happened and probably always will.
Im pushing 60 and remember making nearly 3 times what my mates made back then because I worked away from home.
It didn’t matter to us because we were young and had no real ties and had pockets full of money - but the blokes who were married with a family always struggled.
Like I said earlier, on one job with almost 100 men on site, all but the apprentices were divorced and drank themselves stupid everyday.
I have to disagree re the gas job being good for Darwin. it will be very good for a few people but not the big picture for Darwin.
I compared it to Pt Headland where the locals not working on the big $ were forced to leave. The town went to poop. One doco I watched had a mechanic earning $5k a week but his rent was $1500/wk. The cost of living went thru the roof etc etc. he said that although he cleared over $2k/wk, he wasn’t much better off than if he had stayed in Sydney.
Its all relative.
Only time will tell if inpex is a good thing but I think it is starting to come home to roost. Cost of living skyhigh, etc.
Wages will eventually drop back to normal levels and those who have bought overpriced houses will get stung. Ive seen it happen many times in many places. I built a house back in the book of the 1980’s and made a motza. I got in at the right time and sold at the right time. Very lucky.
But these poor buggers who are tied into a house here will eventually suffer. Of course, there will be those who make a good $.
Reminds me on my mate who built a series of units in Moree years ago when the mine was booming. He ploughed all of his money into the 1st block and made heaps from the rich miners. He thought it was a winner so he built a 2nd and 3rd block of units. Then the mine closed without warning and it sent him down the tube.
If he walked away after the 1st block, he would be sitting pretty. But greed got the better of him and bit him severely.
It happens in cycles and Darwin is not immune, I feel sorry for those who have put themselves into hock to the max.
At least the cost of servicing a loan with low interest rates is a major plus. I remember well the days of 17.5% interest rates. Very lucky to come out on top

dont really understand why people think The cost of living here is too high....??
It ain't.

Think the whinges just can't live within their means?

After travelling last year I can tell you that CoL in Darwin (groceries etc) is up there. BUT given its location and and the obvious benefits this presents (fishing ops, low population -very easy to move around but enough scale in the pop to provide job opportunities, climate, real estate relatively affordable) I believe it's almost commensurate.
I see it here in Port Macquarie. It is difficult to find a standard 3-4 bed home under $500k. But when the $3.3b pacific Hwy project finishes and the latest round of Western Development (house building) finishes, the tradies will all start flocking back to Newcastle and The Gold Coast looking for work. Things will settle back into the long term term trend after another trough.

im glad youre not doing it tough

You might not agree but you cant agrue against a fact.
The fact is that Darwin is the most expensive city to live in aust wide.

everything is compared.
you cant really compare houses because it depends on location.

But food, fuel, general services etc etc are more exp than elsewhere

fuel dropped over 15cpl last year for no reason and is nearly in line wih syd, melb. hobart is still high.
do a search and read the facts for yourself

Nomad I would argue that everything is not compared. I'll use your example of fuel. I maintain that people who are paying the same price for fuel in Darwin are getting a better deal than those in Sydney. Why, well if you have driven in Syd recently you would understand the level of congestion that exists. Mind numbing. Infuriating. In an hour and a half on Sat morning you can drive to Coroboree, compared to Homebush in Syd. You're getting a great buy.

As I stated the prices are up there compared to most places I've been to but you don't get something for nothing. For the reasons I've mentioned and in particular as a keen fisherman Darwin is pretty hard to beat. That's a fact.

Some dodgy "facts" getting thrown around..

Tiz a good point about the difference in traffic in different places. Down here it is the windy hilly roads that get ya