Goodbye is so hard to say now
Travel heartache for young family
WAVING goodbye to the love of her life and father of her children is not new for Burnie mum Bec Harding — but in a global pandemic, not knowing for sure the next time he’ll be home is what breaks her.
But what also hurts is the community backlash for speaking out about her family’s plight and the unrelenting questions over why they should be given sympathy.
“Why send him back? Why can’t he get a job at home? Doesn’t he want to spend time with his kids? Why can’t he just come home and isolate?” Mrs Harding says of the queries she often hears.
With job opportunities for her husband Jake limited in Tasmania, she said quitting his FIFO mining job wasn’t an option.
“What will stop him from being let go first once companies start to struggle? I have seen first-hand so many friends and family being laid off and suspended — some who have been loyal to their employers years,” Mrs Harding said.
“He does not choose to leave us because he does not love his kids, it is because he loves us that he does this to give us everything we need and ensures that we never go without.”
Mrs Harding is joining a growing number of Tasmanian FIFO families lobbying the state government for more freedom when workers come home to their families amid the pandemic.
The majority of Tasmanianbased FIFO workers on a growing Facebook community group work in South Australia and Western Australia — two states with low numbers of active cases and little-to-no community transmission.
“Not only are you having to meet one state’s requirements, but several, and each smaller department has their own restrictions,” the mum of three explained.
“You can isolate at home now if you can actually get home, or you can pay a hefty sum to isolate in a hotel — but for that’s only if you can afford the astronomical plane fares.
“The lack of direct flights home, company travel and transit restrictions and the lengthy G2G approval processes … I can count on one hand how many I’ve seen approved … are just a few more hurdles FIFO workers face too.”
Reading of travel exemptions for interstate workers to come to Tasmania was an “emotional rollercoaster”.
“Six contractors for a Domino’s store fit-out or a business executive for a hotel opening — how are these considered essential and why couldn’t they be sourced locally?” she said.
But she said FIFO workers and their families were “not asking for exemptions”.
“All I want to advocate for is that FIFO workers are considered in the choices being made daily,” Mrs Harding said.
“FIFO workers are just fighting for their right to be able to work and earn a living for their family and return home to see that family.”
cas.garvey@news.com.au