Residents cut off by major floods in parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria are facing another month without work while businesses grapple with mass cancellations for the tourist season.
are entering their second month of employment shortages while businesses record mass cancellations for the upcoming tourist season.Residents in the Gulf have been isolated by floodwater for about three monthsCarpentaria Shire mayor Jack Bawden said people had not worked "for a long time"."There's no light at the end of the tunnel just yet."
Andrew Murphy, who runs a plumbing business out of Normanton that services the entire Gulf region, said he made big cuts to shifts."The employees, they're all on reduced hours and they've been really good but there's only so many times you can sweep the shed and clean the shelves."He said the shortage was having a ripple effect on businesses across the region.
"It's hard on everyone … it means you don't have as much to spend at the shops, it's having an ongoing effect on the restaurants, cafes, servos, pubs up here," he said.Andrew Murphy has had to reduce shifts for his employees in Normanton."I was talking to the owners of a motel in Karumba and of course they've got no one coming through but they've still got to pay their workers so they don't lose them," he said.
"And now they're getting all these cancellations for the next school holidays because people are worried about conditions for fishing. "That's wrong, we're going to have the best fishing we've had for years because of the floodwater — the barra fishing is going to be the best it has been for a long time."Until Friday, disaster payments of $180 for individuals and $900 for families who had been directly impacted by floods were available from the state government.
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