"the fact that they've found work in Australia means there will be new job vacancies here - and no excuse not to take them" - Doug Foster, Mining recruitment director
Doug Foster has an oft-repeated response for critics of his recruiting potential Australian mine and ancillary workers in the Far North.
The long-time Perth resident, who was born and bred in Kaitaia, said whichever way it was looked at, the opportunity for large-scale employment in Australia represented a win-win for all concerned.
"The people who are employed will have good jobs, but will not be deserting this community," he said last week after a recruitment session in Kaitaia that attracted some 600 prospective applicants.
"They will work five weeks on, two weeks off, and their contracts will require them to come home for that two weeks," he said.
"They will not be changing their minds and spending those two weeks in Australia.
"They will be bringing the money they earn back to the Far North. It won't be staying in Australia. And the fact that they've found work in Australia means there will be new job vacancies here - and no excuse not to take them.
"It's a win-win for everyone - the people who get the jobs, their families here in the Far North and the Far North itself."
Some who turned up in Kaitaia on Wednesday night had been thinking of shifting entire families to Australia, but he did not encourage that.
"What would be the point of that?" he asked.
"People would be going to a lot of bother for no benefit. Perth is a very expensive place to live, and the people who get these jobs will be coming back here after every five-week stint, with the money they've earned, so really their families would be better off staying here."
Just how many Far Northerners would finally be employed in Australia remained to be seen, but there was huge scope. Mr Foster had had a catering company asking for 100 people "immediately" last week, while two new Western Australia mines would be employing 40,000 people.
There would also be potential in Queensland, where new coal mining ventures were in the pipeline.
The Kaitaia recruitment session had attracted another good response, similar to Kaikohe's, he added, and those who were keen to hear what he had to say where by no means solely the unemployed.
"There would have been some who don't have work at the moment but there were a lot of employed people too," he said.
He had told the throng what they needed to know about the job opportunities available, answered all sorts of questions, and sent them away to dust off their CVs and licences.
"Some have worked there before so they know what's going on, but for most it will be a new experience," Mr Foster said.
"There's no reason why everyone who was here tonight can't find work though."
Mr Foster had one final recruitment session to run, in Moerewa, last week, and was hoping to be back in Perth by Sunday.