Four Corners
Casualties Of The Boom
| ABC
Next on Four corners, how massive mining developments are killing communities in regional Australia. It's been described as the boom that keeps on giving - an export bonanza that will help Australia ride through a world-wide economic downturn. Across the country, workers have left their jobs to make big money in the mining industry. In the rush to exploit the country's natural resources employers have all but set aside the idea of building or expanding communities. Instead they pay big wages to fly-in, fly-out or drive-in, drive-out workers, encouraging them to work long shifts, leaving them with little reason to become part of the local community. This week, reporter Andrew Fowler looks at the impact of this rush to riches.