4 February 2013

RESOURCE industry employer group the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AREEA) today called on new Minister for Immigration Brendan O’Connor to ignore ramped-up, union-activated anti-skilled migration campaigns.

While big on rhetoric, union misinformation is short on facts.

“Official immigration data shows of the 28,600 new jobs created in mining in the past 12 months, 92 per cent of these jobs were taken by Australian workers,” said AREEA chief executive Steve Knott.

“Australia has a proud history of responsibly utilising skilled migration that has enhanced both nation building capacities and our economic prosperity.

“Skilled migration remains a very small but very important part of Australia’s resource industry, as our nation builds the people capabilities required to secure more projects and create more Australian jobs.

“Edith Cowen University released a report last year showing skilled migration is a last resort for employers in areas facing skills challenges, with the initial cost of sourcing a single 457 Visa worker up to $60,000.”

Mr Knott said attacking skilled migration is a recurring theme in a ‘flawed wider campaign’ by the union movement to create animosity towards Australia’s resource industry.

“It is a complete misrepresentation to claim Australians aren’t already benefiting from the huge creation of wealth and employment by our nation’s resource industry,” he said.

“An estimated 600,000 Australian people are employed through resources activity both directly and through the flow-on effects of our world-class projects. Tens of thousands are gaining trades and qualifications through resources investment.

“Millions more Australians benefit from the industry’s ongoing strength through resource stocks in their superannuation portfolios. There are also countless ‘mum and dad investors’ who choose to purchase resources shares and benefit from the sector doing well.

“It is clear unions are exploiting skilled migration as an industrial tactic to exert greater influence on the management of large Australian projects.

“We urge Minister O’Connor to resist this pressure and look forward to working with him to address the small but important skilled migration needs of our nationally significant industry.”

Click here for a PDF of this media release along with a media contact.