In a rowdy mining town, waitresses in see-through bikinis still bring the beers
Despite a clamp-down ordered on near-naked waitresses about three years ago, it's more or less business as usual at the legendary 'skimpy bars' in the Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie.
At one pub, Emily Harley brings the drinks wearing a thigh-high zebra-print dress, black boots and a pair of knickers adorned with flashing red lights.
The 22-year-old earns three times what she used to make as a delicatessen manager in Perth. 'I work for a few months then travel around Europe. It's good fun. You get a few jerks, but if they try anything they get a slap,' she said, as miners showed their appreciation by dropping dollar coins into a tip bucket.
The regulations being implemented in Kalgoorlie, 600km east of Perth, affect about a dozen skimpy bars, which have become a popular tourist attraction as well as catering for the thousands of miners who dig for gold and nickel during gruelling 12-hour shifts in the surrounding desert. But enforcement seems patchy at best.
Under new laws, the skimpies are not allowed to work topless, and those wearing a G-string must cover up with a wrap.
'They are not permitted to do anything that is immodest, indecent or lewd,' a police spokesman said. 'They can't show their nipples, for instance.'