Landmark report finds housing, education as areas restricting Pilbara growth

A landmark report has highlighted housing, education and energy supply as the key gaps the Pilbara needs to tackle to continue to grow. The Regional Strengths and Infrastructure Gaps report, released last month, provided government, industry, businesses and the community with a guide to support record migration and further growth in the region. The report found economic growth in the Pilbara is being heavily constrained by a lack of available housing and rising prices in the rental and accommodation market. It stated the factors contributing to this included higher construction, transportation, labour, accommodation and material costs. “In addition, the region’s housing market has been quite volatile and the project appetite from developers is low,” the report said. With North Regional TAFE and the Pilbara Universities centre being the only tertiary education options for residents, the report found there was a need to improve skills development opportunities, particularly amongst First Nations people. “First Nations peoples account for 14 per cent of the Pilbara population yet are six times more likely to be unemployed than other residents,” it said. Karratha and Districts Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tanya Dodd said it was imperative to address the housing and education issues residents face in the Pilbara. “The cost of living is becoming ridiculous, and this will push people out of our region, and we need them here to have stability in the community,” she said. “People need to understand not everyone who lives in the Pilbara is on $100,000 plus per year with a house provided. “I recently spoke to local education assistants who work full-time and have two other jobs to make ends meet each week; this situation is ludicrous.” She said one way to reduce the cost of living was to get the More Than Mining campaign over the line. The More Than Mining campaign was launched by the Australian Mining Cities Alliance in September and aims to make the fringe benefits tax policy equal for both businesses and individuals wanting to purchase or rent a property. “This would significantly impact day-to-day people living in the Pilbara by providing a stable economy rather than boom and bust,” Ms Todd said. Ms Todd said education was another area of focus because future generations were needed to stay within the Pilbara. Meanwhile, Liberal Mining and Pastoral MLA Neil Thomson said he welcomed the Infrastructure Australia report highlighting housing as one of the major issues facing the Pilbara. “Housing shortages begin with land shortages, leading to fewer houses being constructed and this leads to exorbitant rents which mean it is so much harder for families to make the North West their home,” he said. “Affordable workforce accommodation, social housing and livability must be priorities in the State Government’s decision-making. “These impact on businesses ability to attract and retain staff.” The report found the public housing waitlist was at 467 applicants when it was published with an average wait time of 87 weeks. It stated the PIlbara also reported the highest Regional Price Index in WA for 2019 with a score of 115.7 against a Statewide average of 105.5. However, Pilbara MLA Kevin Michel said while housing issues had been challenging, particularly during the pandemic, the State Government had initiated measures to increase housing stock. “There are significant challenges for housing construction right across the country and the State Government has been reforming its housing delivery with $2.1 billion worth of investment towards social housing in a range of measures to get homes built as fast as possible,” he said. He said the Government had invested in school infrastructure across the Pilbara. “Our Government has been working directly with industries to support efforts to increase the capability of their workforces and produce more skilled workers to meet increasing industry demand,” he said.