Kalgoorlie – Michmutters

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Australia

Diggers and Dealers organizers distance event from alleged groping of Kalgoorlie journalist

A woman stands with her hair out and arms folded

The company at the center of an alleged sexual assault say they have a “zero-tolerance policy” towards such behavior after a 23-year-old journalist was allegedly groped at a Goldfields mining event.

Kalgoorlie Miner deputy editor Amber Lilley alleged she was propositioned, groped, and followed after attending a Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum event last week.

Forum chairman Jim Walker said the organization was disappointed to learn of the alleged incident that occurred at a sideline function during the week.

“While the incident did not occur at a Diggers and Dealers event, the forum has a zero-tolerance policy towards such behaviour,” he said.

Mr Walker said there was an expectation that people who attended the forum, including sideline events, behaved in a “respectful and inclusive manner”.

“Our expectations of delegates’ behavior also extended to unaffiliated events and private functions that take place around the city during this period,” he said.

The alleged incident took place at the Graduates Hall of the West Australian School of Mines, with school alumni hosting a networking event the same week as the conference.

A joint statement by the West Australian School of Mines Alumni and Curtin University said they were “extremely disappointed” by the behavior of one of the attendees.

The statement said the organizations were working to address issues of sexism and misogyny and improve opportunities for women in the mining sector.

“We are absolutely committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning and work environment,” the statement read.

“We strongly believe in the value that education and awareness can play in change, and as part of that, we have recently appointed a director of equity and diversity in the WA School of Mines.”

a close up image of an older man in a suit
Mr Bowler says he is pleased the incident has been brought to light.(ABC Goldfields-Esperance: Robert Koenig-Luck)

Not an isolated incident

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler said the Diggers and Dealers Forum should not be made responsible for the actions of one man but conceded it was unlikely the incident was isolated.

“Sadly, we get idiots who get a few beers under their belt and misbehave, but to say it’s just in Kalgoorlie-Boulder or just at the Diggers and Dealers conference is unfair,” he said.

Mr Bowler said he was pleased the incident had been brought to light and would like to see the man in question banned from future forums.

“This person, I hope, won’t be allowed back to Diggers and Dealers, and anyone who behaves like him should be treated the same,” he said.

“They [Diggers and Dealers] have assured me that will be the case.”

The incident has been condemned by the mining sector and state politicians, including the premier Mark McGowan who said he was “disappointed” and urged the industry to “do the right thing”.

A close of a woman with scrub in the background.
Senator Cox says the allegations highlight a continuing trend of harassment towards women in mining.(Supplied)

Greens resources spokesperson Senator Dorinda Cox said Ms Lilley’s allegations highlighted a continuing trend of harassment towards women in mining.

She said the industry’s action on harassment was lacking despite the June release of a scathing report into sexual assault and harassment within WA’s fly-in, fly-out mining industry.

“The WA mining sector has been called out in the report, and its recommendations are clear,” Senator Cox said.

“The ignorance and lip service is impalpable, and holding those in power to account isn’t even a blip on the radar, which continues to leave me deeply concerned.”

Latest assault an ‘opportunity’ for mining sector

The incident has been seen by advocates for women in mining as a new chance for the industry to step up and show action on stamping out harassment.

Former FIFO worker Becky Felstead works as a consultant to the resource sector on sexual harassment, workplace culture and assault and said the industry had an opportunity to target harassment at its core.

A middle shot of woman with her arms folded
Ms Felstead says there are many things that need to change.(Supplied)

“I think the mining industry has an opportunity. We know that this is systemic, and we know that this is happening as a culture, not just in mining,” she said.

“But mining has an opportunity because they can be front runners, and they can be the innovators in making sure that they are creating active bystanders, that they are changing the culture. They are having these conversations.

“I think there are so many things that need to change.”

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Categories
Australia

Kalgoorlie’s skimpy barmaids featured in new photographic exhibition

A woman dressed in black hanging framed photographs, with photos of skimpy barmaids in foreground.

A photographer has shed some light on Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s famous skimpy barmaids in a new exhibition, which was 18 months in the making as she documented the nightlife in pubs in the historic gold mining city.

Known as Mellen, a pseudonym of her real name, the photographer originally from Sydney shares her anonymity in common with skimpies who typically work under an alias.

The scantily clad barmaids arrived on Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s pub scene in the 1970s and have since become part of the hard-working, hard-drinking culture of mining towns across Western Australia.

While one Kalgoorlie pub briefly flirted with the concept of male skimpies, or so-called himpies in 2018, the job has predominantly been the domain of young women working on a fly-in fly-out basis.

Most wear lingerie or bikinis and sometimes go topless, but all of the skimpies pull beers and chat to patrons to keep the amber fluid flowing.

As Mellen explains, the idea for her skimpy exhibition was born when she was hired as the house photographer for Kalgoorlie’s aptly named Gold Bar nightclub where she befriended many of the skimpy barmaids.

“It just gave me a license to photograph the girls working … with their consent of course,” she says.

“Then I started going to some of the other venues once I started to get to know the girls, follow them around and take their photos… I hadn’t seen many pictures of them around.

“It’s behind closed doors yet such a widely known thing about Kalgoorlie that I thought, why not meet some of the girls and see if they’d be interested in having their portraits taken?”

A woman pasting a black and white poster of a girl in lingerie to the wall
Photographer Mellen set out to tell the stories of some of Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s skimpy barmaids.(Supplied: Mellen)

More than money

Her photography work has garnered her hundreds of followers on Instagram, where her handle @nophotosofthegirls reflects the signs that typically hang behind the bar of every pub with skimpies on duty.

More than a dozen skimpies gave their permission to be included in the photographic exhibition, underlining the trust Mellen built over more than a year.

Each image in the exhibit has a QR code linking to interviews she recorded with the skimpies that detail some of their personal experiences on the job.

“There’s a lot of different stories to how the women have gotten into this profession,” Mellen says.

“The common themes were the camaraderie between the women, and of course the money, but there’s a lot of jobs where you can make a lot of money, so it’s got to be more than that, especially these days.

“Maybe back in the 70s when women weren’t allowed to work in the mines, but these days there are so many other elements — the self-confidence was another common trait.”

Authentic portrayal of skimpies

The exhibition is a mixture of documentary photography and portraiture.

Mellen says she did not want to portray the industry as glamorous, but as authentically as possible.

“I try and get a balance of what is real, not too glam, but also a nice portrait,” she says.

A woman in denim cut off shorts holding a dog against a white background.
Photographer Mellen says she set out to tell the stories of the women as authentically as possible.(Supplied: Mellen)

“I love the one-on-one interaction of taking a formal portrait, but to be able to capture what’s going on is also a pretty amazing privilege.”

The project has also sparked Mellen’s interest in the history surrounding skimpies in a city that was home to Australia’s biggest gold rush in 1893.

“I have been looking at the history while doing the project, just to try and get a bit more depth of my understanding so I could represent it in a well-rounded way,” she says.

“I am from Sydney and we don’t have skimpies over there, so it was just something that stuck out as a bit unusual for so many venues to have skimpy barmaids here.

“I had been living here a year before I stepped foot in a pub … we have rough and tumble pubs in Sydney, but I didn’t find it [skimpies] jarring at all.”

The exhibition at Kalgoorlie’s Black Crow Studios is open until August 14.

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Categories
Australia

Warburton man fronts Kalgoorlie court over sexual assault and aggravated burglary charges

A silver gate with the word Kalgoorlie Courthouse printed on it.

A man charged with rape and multiple aggravated home burglary offenses has been denied bail by the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court in Western Australia.

Andrew Travis Giles is accused of breaking into three homes across Kalgoorlie and South Kalgoorlie in the early hours of Monday morning and sexually assaulting or indecently assaulting a woman at each of the properties.

Police prosecutor Darren Woods said the 30-year-old man from Warburton was arrested within four hours of the last alleged offence.

He told the court Mr Giles was wearing inside out blood-stained jeans when he was arrested, and a latex glove containing blood was also found at the tent where he was located by police.

Mr Woods said there would be further testing, but the blood was believed to be from the victims.

He said the clothing appeared to match what the alleged offender was seen wearing in CCTV footage from one of the victim’s homes.

Victims traumatized

Mr Woods said the alleged victims had been traumatized by what had happened and were giving evidence to help with identification of the offender.

“We anticipate further charges will be laid,” he said.

Mr Giles has already been charged with six offences, including committing an aggravated indecent assault in the course of an aggravated home burglary.

The defense counsel for Mr Giles told the court he was applying for bail on instruction from his client — despite advising against it — because Mr Giles wanted to attend a funeral in Warburton.

Magistrate refuses bail

Mr Woods strongly opposed dance.

“While there will be a long period in custody before it goes before the District Court, any period in custody would be far outweighed by the minimum 15-year sentence for the offence,” he said.

Magistrate Matthew Holgate refused bail.

He said there were no conditions that could be imposed on bail that could determine Mr Giles from further offending or from absconding.

“It is not possible to overstate the seriousness of the alleged offences,” he said.

Dressed in a blue hoodie and gray trackpants, Mr Giles only spoke to confirm his name.

He will next appear in court via video link on September 1.

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