00:00 When Vanessa and her three children moved home to be closer to her sick mother, she
00:06 didn't foresee the ordeal that lay ahead.
00:09 Despite quickly getting work, it was finding a home that proved almost impossible.
00:15 I did put in a lot of application for rentals, but never got nowhere.
00:21 An abandoned house an hour out of town, with no running water or electricity, was the last
00:27 resort and where she's lived for months.
00:30 It's stressful because you have to drive in and out of town every day.
00:36 I have to drive for work.
00:38 My kids need to be at school.
00:40 No power.
00:42 We can't cook inside, so we just cook on the fire.
00:47 For some people, their only shelter are tin sheds, with no utilities they freeze in winter
00:54 and stifle in summer.
00:56 A housing crisis isn't new in Tennant Creek.
00:59 But a mining boom and an unusual government scheme has stirred up concerns residents are
01:05 being priced out of the rental market, or left with nothing at all.
01:10 Dozens of homes are rented out by the government for its workers who don't pay rent as an incentive.
01:16 In July 2020, there was an announcement of $3.175 million to build 12 one-bedroom units
01:25 for health staff.
01:26 Now, that project still hasn't gone ahead.
01:29 The lack of affordable housing poses a big challenge for businesses which are struggling
01:33 to find staff.
01:35 We pay them above-award wages to do the right thing by them, and they still struggle to
01:39 pay rent.
01:41 On one of the few housing projects in town, nearly all workers have faced the challenge
01:46 of finding a home.
01:47 There's pretty well nothing unless you're in the government.
01:50 So we struggle daily to bring in qualified and experienced staff to run multiple programs
01:56 that we deliver to the community.
01:59 I think now that the mine has recently come in and less housing stock there, we're definitely
02:04 feeling the pinch.
02:05 The Tennant Consolidated Mining Group, digging for gold and copper, purchased a motel for
02:10 staff and, says officials, requested they house workers in town to participate in the
02:16 community.
02:17 Meanwhile, the government says it's working on a range of strategies to ease housing pressures,
02:23 including building new homes.
02:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments