HIGH-PROFILE demographer Bernard Salt has reiterated his call to see significant planned population growth in the Pilbara to counteract the downsides of fly-in, fly-out workforce management.
In Perth this week for a series of speeches, Mr Salt said Western Australia needed to embrace population growth and double to 5 million people, including the active promotion of the Pilbara as a place to live and work.
His views on the Pilbara are well known and reflect those of others in the business community who have been pushing government to encourage more people in the Pilbara.
The Pilbara Cities policy driven by Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls is seen as part of that push.
The policy is providing funding and planning assistance for communities that want to improve amenities and prepare for much bigger numbers of residents.
‘Broome and Karratha each need to be between 50,000 and 100,000 people,” Mr Salt said.
“Then, you could have wives and families; your five-year-old daughter could go to ballet school, your school teacher wife would have job opportunities.”