Map reveals state hardest hit by end of the mining boom - SBS

The Productivity Commission is likely to tell Treasurer Scott Morrison employment in towns in Western Australia has been hardest hit by the end of the mining boom when it responds to an inquiry labelled a "joke" by the Labor Party.

Mr Morrison said on Wednesday that the exercise would provide "an even more defined view" of the areas that require attention as mining activity declines.

"What it says to regional Australians who are feeling left behind, is [that] the government understands this [problem].

"We want to understand the problem even better than we do now," he said.

"And [we want] to ensure that this is informing our policy, particularly as we go into the next budget, as we ensure everybody can come along on this economic transition."

According to analysis of suburb-level Department of Employment data between September 2011 and September 2016, unemployment has risen by an average of 1.9 percentage points across 224 small regions in Western Australia.

In the Derby-West Kimberley area in the north of the state, the local unemployment rate has jumped from 10.5 per cent to 27 per cent in five years. At more than 16 percentage points, the rise is the highest in the state.

The Shire of Derby-West Kimberley President Elsia Archer told the ABC in March that the town had to “be positive and move on”. 

"All those mines have closed around us - Kimberley Diamonds, Koolan, Cockatoo and others - have reduced their numbers, so businesses are hurting somewhat,” she said.

Virgin cut off flights between Derby and Perth earlier this year.

The average increase for suburbs in South Australia was 1.5 percentage points, while the rise in Tasmania was 1.2 points. Unemployment in areas of NSW increased by less than 0.2 percentage points on average.

The Treasurer has asked the Productivity Commission "to identify as a matter of urgency the hardest-hit regions and towns most at risk of job losses and economic decline as the mining investment boom ends”, according to a report in The Australian newspaper on Wednesday.

Labor's Richard Marles labelled the inquiry "a joke" and "window dressing".

"Every MP around the country, if they are worth their salt, would be able to tell Scott Morrison right now who is doing it tough in their neck of the woods," he said.

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