Newman
Including fly-in fly-out residents, about 9000 people live in Newman. It is a highly multicultural place where locals hail from far off locations in Africa and Asia. Located more than 300 kilometres south of Port Hedland, it is a town of high salaries, long hours and, for many, seclusion from the regular support structures of family and friends. A high turnover of locals and fly-in fly-out mine workers makes for an interesting social dynamic.
Rev Captain Derek and Mrs Amanda McArtney
Derek and Amanda are a couple familiar with the type of strains that life in a North West mining town can place on relationships. Derek has previously worked in a fly-in fly-out situation in the oil and gas industry, firstly between Perth and the Timor Sea and then between Adelaide and Moomba. Amanda has driven buses in mine shut downs at Karratha. Following their appointment in the Diocese of Bunbury, Derek and Amanda will take leave before commencing in Newman early in 2011.