Opposition seeking more information on Kalbarri worker accommodation status two years after Seroja

The Opposition is hoping to to speak with the company chosen as the preferred proponent to build worker accommodation for Kalbarri’s cyclone relief efforts, as the site’s allocated land remains empty two years after Seroja. Shadow emergency services minister and Nationals MLC Martin Aldridge raised concern over the status of the planned workers camp after it was announced accommodation to aid relief efforts in Fitzroy Crossing would be established just a few months after a damaging flood, and before Kalbarri would see its own worker accommodation. “You would have thought work would have started, but given there is nothing on the site I think there could be a problem,” he said. After visiting Kalbarri this week, Mr Aldridge said he hoped to speak with Perth-based modular housing company Petra Westkey to understand what stage the project was at. In August 2022, the State Government announced Petra Westkey had been named preferred proponent to build allocation on land allocated by the Government, and according to a State Government spokesperson the company is working through the details of the project. “The State Government’s commitment was to make suitable land available in consultation with the local government and we delivered that commitment. This commitment was made before tropical cyclone Seroja,” they said. “The proponent has advised they are working through their financials and design of the project in detail.” Mr Aldridge said the response was concerning, and that there needed to be a sign of commitment to the project. “If they are still working through their finances, to me that sounds like they are still weighing up if they want to proceed with the project or not,” he said. Mr Aldridge previously asked the asked the Government why worker accommodation was being built more quickly in the Kimberley, to which Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis, on behalf of Housing Minister John Carey, responded by stating the State Government had “fulfilled its commitment” by releasing land for the accommodation. Mr Aldridge has said he would be asking the Government for more detail on the status of the project in State Parliament next month. “Two years on, it would have been preferable to have had a worker camp within months of Seroja, not years. I still think there is a need because there is still a lot of reconstruction that needs to occur,” Mr Aldridge said. Petra Westkey has been contacted for comment.