Mould, flies, maggots all on the menu as workers seek "food drops" for tea
The food safety crisis at the Genex Kidston pumped hydro project has deepened today with further reports of new food contaminations including mould and flies found in camp food this morning.
The Electrical Trades Union has slammed what it calls Genex's litany of failures and sham audits, calling on the State Government to intervene in the troubled project.
Earlier this week, workers were directed back to work despite serious and unresolved health concerns at the remote site camp. The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) warns that temporary fixes and the downplaying of risks are being used instead of permanent, transparent solutions, placing workers' health at ongoing risk.
This mornings' latest reported contamination marks a further escalation of tensions at the camp, with workers facing both physical and psychosocial hazards. Repeated failures in food safety have left workers uncertain about the basic safety of the meals being provided, with reports of maggots, flies and mould in food. So severe is the situation that some workers are now seeking external food supplies to be flown in, out of concern that meals on site are unsafe to eat.
ETU State Organiser Robert Hill said the situation has become intolerable.
"Our members don't know whether the next meal they're served will make them sick. What they're experiencing is a smorgasbord of contamination - maggots, flies, mould - and it's happening in a remote camp where workers have no alternative food options. Workers are literally playing Russian Roulette each time they eat" Hill said.
"The level of desperation is extraordinary. Workers have reported feeling hungry, frustrated and mistreated, with some now discussing paying out of their own pockets to helicopter a food drop into the remote area. A situation more reminiscent of a humanitarian aid operation than a state-backed infrastructure project."
The ETU says these conditions represent a clear failure to provide a safe workplace and is calling for immediate, transparent action to restore food safety standards and protect workers' health.
In mid-November 2025, the McConnell Dowell-John Holland joint venture commissioned a Food Services Audit Report. The audit was never completed, reportedly for "various reasons." No Food Premises Standards documentation has been provided, no kitchen was accessible during the audit, and no kitchen records were available.
Despite its limited scope, the partial audit's findings confirmed workers' fears that food handling practices posed a real and imminent risk to health and safety. Serious and systemic failures were identified across basic food safety controls, including unsafe food handling, poor sanitation, inadequate temperature control and storage, failures in monitoring and record-keeping, and a lack of effective corrective action.
Hill said the audit confirms the risk was real and foreseeable, not theoretical. "These are not minor issues. They are fundamental food safety failures," Hill said.
Despite an extensive list of improvements given to ISS by the Etheridge Shire Council Health Inspector yesterday, Genex sought to assure workers "risk to their safety was not imminent". This morning yet again, food visibly contaminated with mould and flies was served to hungry workers, less than 24 hours after Genex made that flippant and condescending statement.
ETU Assistant State Secretary Chris Lynch said "If this is allowed to be smoothed over, it sets a dangerous precedent for companies going forward. The State Government must step in and ensure worker health, dignity and safety are non-negotiable on all projects."
Genex yesterday announced that an ISS corporate audit and a third-party independent audit will commence early next week. While the ETU welcomes these steps, it says they come far too late and do nothing to protect workers right now.
"The idea that workers should continue living and eating onsite while improvements already ordered, are completed and while audits are pending, after months of evident failures and fresh contamination this morning, is an absolute disgrace," Lynch said.
The ETU will continue to advocate for workers at Kidston and expects full transparency, accountability and solutions from Genex, because no amount of reassurance can make maggots for dinner go down any easier. Workers on the project should be flown home at no expense, while these inexcusable living conditions are still unresolved.
