18 September 2012
COMMENTS yesterday by ACTU national secretary Dave Oliver to axe all Enterprise Migration Agreements (EMAs) are ‘bordering on ridiculous’, says Steve Knott, chief executive of resource industry employer group AREEA.
“There are many myths and mistruths in public and political discourse about how the resource industry uses skilled migration. The truth is skilled migration is a very small, but very important part of the overall skills picture for the resource industry and Australia generally,” Mr Knott says.
“It is a myth that temporary foreign workers are a cheaper alternative to Australian workers. These workers are required by law to be paid market rates. Together with repatriation costs, this makes the employment of foreign workers a more expensive option than hiring local employees.
“Programs such as EMAs are vital to ensuring projects of national significance secure the necessary funding and are delivered on time and on budget, so they can provide economic and employment benefits for Australians for decades to come.
“To date there has only been one EMA granted, that being for Hancock Prospecting’s proposed $9.5 billion Roy Hill venture. Along with Roy Hill there are at least another five EMA proposals currently in the consideration pipeline by AREEA members.
“The Roy Hill project is yet to receive final investment approval and, like all large-scale construction projects in remote parts of Australia, must demonstrate to the international investment markets that they will have the arms and legs necessary to build such projects on time and within budget.
“Importantly the EMA approval for Roy Hill was only given by Immigration Minister Chris Bowen after the company presented a compelling case that this project, if approved, would employ many thousands of Australian workers.
“Subject to project approval, in addition to both long and short term jobs, this project will also provide training opportunities for 2000 more Australian’s during the construction period as part of the EMA approval process.
“It should be noted that the Roy Hill project is located in WA’s Pilbara region some 277 kilometres South of Port Headland, a long way from Cavill Avenue on the Gold Coast, Martin Place in Sydney or Chapel Street in Melbourne.
“It is an ongoing challenge for the resources sector that Australian labour forces are far less geographically mobile than many of our competing nations. If the jobs can’t be filled locally, having a mechanism to go offshore is necessary and makes sound economic sense to get both financing and construction security.”
Mr Knott highlights that employment growth in the resource industry has well outstripped predictions made by the National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce (NRSET) in June 2010, a taskforce including both AREEA and the ACTU as key stakeholders, along with the federal government.
In 2010 the government panel had forecast that employment in the resource industry would grow at an average of 13,000 jobs per year, but instead growth has been over 32,500 jobs per year.
“The resource industry has implemented a wide range of workforce development, planning and recruitment strategies to ensure Australian workers and local economies are the main beneficiaries of large projects,” Mr Knott said.
“The industry works closely with federal and state government entities to deliver a number of important programs of direct relevance to the NRSET’s terms of reference. But despite industry and government’s best efforts, some employers do need access to skilled migrants to temporarily supplement their workforces.”
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