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A DAD has revealed how he earns £100,000 a year doing a job no one wants – but there’s an ominous catch.
At his peak, Lachie Samuel was raking in almost $5000 (around £3700) a week which he splurged on drinks at the pub.
Lachie left home at 19 to become a fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) in the Western Australian mines – five days of gruelling labour followed by two days at home.
When he started, the lifestyle was challenging but cushioned by the hefty pay package he received at the end of the month.
He told News AU: “You would do a 12 hour shift, come back to camp, hit the gym, then head straight to the pub and order as many drinks as you wanted.”
But while the pay was “more money than he knew what to do with”, Lachie soon discovered the dark side of working in such remote locate for long stretches of time.
As isolation crept in, the bright-eyed youngster soon found himself splurging his hard-earned cash on alcohol and drugs.
But it was in 2013 when his world was turned upside down.
He received a call informing him that his partner had attempted to take her own life.
After seeking advice from his team leader, he was told that “if she really wanted to do it, she would have”.
Instead of going home, he decided to stay put in Kargoolie – burying his sadness in work.
He asked to switch from five days on and two days off to four weeks work and just one week off – a decision he later came to deeply regret.
Soon after, Lachie and his partner broke up which hurtled him into a “dark place”.
He started picking fights with co-workers and was eventually asked to leave and return to Perth where he had no friends or family.
Lacking in a support network and carrying “a lot of shame” Lachie squandered his savings on alcohol, drugs and womanising.
Soon after, his ex-partner called to tell him she was pregnant with his child.
What is FIFO work?
Fly-in fly-out or FIFO work in Australia has grown in popularity with the expansion of the mining and resources sectors.
They help to build and operate the mines and are provided with food and shelter during their stay.
It involves workers travelling to remote locations where they will be rostered on for a set number of work days on site and then rest days at home.
FIFO workers can be anything from engineers and electricians, to nurses, security guards, chefs and crane operators.
They serve a key role in Australia’s mining industry. It’s difficult work, which has recently been glamorised online for being so lucrative.
But after months failing to prove himself as a dad, he said, they moved to the east coast.
Having finally found purpose again as a parent, the move felt like losing that “last bit of identity” which tragically pushed him to the brink of collapse.
“I remember the moments after, crying, thinking about how I nearly took my daughter’s dad. I’m really lucky that being the selfish person I was, I chose to find something in being a better person for her” he said.
After trying to take his own life and swimming in a sea of debt, the dad was forced back to the mines where he spent the next three years.
Now, Lachie shares his experiences with his own mental health struggles with other FIFE workers to help others in the industry.
His advice for anyone looking to get into FIFO is to ask yourself why you want to be there and what about the work attracts you.
Over the last few years, social media has been flooded with content promoting the lifestyle.
But Lachy has warned keen FIFO workers: “You should know that your room will be mouldy, the toilet won’t be cleaned, there’s gunk everywhere. You just hope that the bed has been changed since the last person.”
