The End Child Poverty campaign recorded South Hedland children’s voices on a phone and will play them for federal ministers and MPs in Canberra.

Port Hedland handles billions of dollars of iron‑ore trade each month, making the Pilbara the engine room of Australia’s economy. Yet the wealth generated at the port does not reach many families living nearby.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ SEIFA index, South Hedland scored 989, lower than the broader Port Hedland area average of 1,011, indicating higher relative disadvantage.

Tania Murray, chief executive of the Youth Involvement Council, said many young people return to homes that are below acceptable standards, with very little food, overcrowding and no adequate air‑conditioning, even though they live in a desert climate.

WA Commissioner for Children Jacqueline McGowan‑Jones described the situation as a ‘two‑speed economy’, where the constant flow of money through the port is visible to children but does not translate into services or support for them. The campaign’s leaders are urging a national strategy that measures poverty from a child’s perspective.