Sex abuse culture in mining industry: Premier Mark McGowan doesn’t commit to worker register to stop abusers

Premier Mark McGowan has poured cold water on a FIFO worker register that would prevent those found guilty of sexual assault from job-hopping. The recommendation was one of many to come out of the Parliamentary Inquiry into sexual misconduct and the treatment of women in the mining sector on Thursday. Mr McGowan was asked by The West Live host Ben O’Shea on Friday morning whether he supported the initiative but stopped short of committing to a register. “Well, I don’t want to pre-empt and say yes or no on things like that ... you’ve got to do these things properly ... you’ve got to actually have fairness for people,” The Premier said. “You’ve got to make sure people are treated right and you don’t have people who are unfairly targeted that’s all ... so having mechanisms in place to ensure that takes place is something we’ll examine.” Mr McGowan also said “we’re not going to do that” when asked about the prospect of a Royal Commission into the issue. “We’ve got the inquiry and it’s got a whole range of recommendations,” he said. Mr McGowan said it was more important that employers took the issue seriously. “This is about an industry, it’s not about the Government, so they need to take it seriously and put in place measures to ensure it’s a safe and respectful workplace for everyone — in particular women (who are) often in a male dominated environment a long way from home where people spending two or three weeks together need to be supported and protected from predatory behaviour,” he said. The Premier said he was “sorry” people had suffered harassment and assault while working in the State’s mining sector. “Of course I’m very sorry that’s occurred,” he said.