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November 2, 2011 – More opportunities to work in Australia! Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman calls for more skilled workers to come to the west.

According to Mr. Coleman, if Australia is to meet Asia’s ever growing demand for minerals and energy, a substantial chunk of Australia’s skilled workforce needs to move to the west.

Representing an investment of AU$27 billion, Woodside Petroleum – the Woodside-operated North West Shelf Venture facilities, constitute Australia’s largest oil and gas resource development and currently account for more than 40 per cent of Australia’s oil and gas production.

During the Commonwealth Business Forum in Perth, Mr. Coleman stated that the demand for resources, particularly liquefied natural gas by the Asian market would continue to rise but the competition for skilled labor was a challenge. Moreover, he said that rather than retreating into protectionism, Australia needed to continue integrating with the Asian region.

Mr. Coleman further stated that if the government wants to play its part in boosting productivity, they can put in place taxation and industrial relations policies. He also indicated that the immigration Australia rules for bringing in overseas skilled workers under Australian skilled visa should be relaxed. This view was also echoed by Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder, who called for “appropriate immigration policies” in Australia so that skilled labour needs would be ensured to be met.

Meanwhile, Gina Rinehart, Hancock Prospecting chairwoman also agreed that labor shortages were “a real risk” to major resources projects in Western Australia’s north, as they could lose market share to other countries if no new exploration incentives were introduced and costs kept rising.

Ms. Rinehart also gave warning of an impending skills shortage, which projected to have a 150,000-person shortfall by 2015.

Australia’s richest person, Ms. Rinehart stated that they have faced some difficulties in attracting workers to the Pilbara, where Hancock is struggling to get enough employees for its Roy Hill iron ore mine. She further said that though most senior positions are catered for, it is still very, very difficult to fill up the number of workers required. She then said that as a consequence of the minerals resources rent and carbon taxes, a drop to levels unseen for several years was seen along exploration drilling in Western Australia.

A 77 million tonnes per annum of LNG capacity is currently on-stream or under construction in Australia, and will increase to more than 125mtpa by 2020 if slated projects proceed as scheduled.

Asian demand for LNG is expected to reach 240mtpa by end of this decade, equal to 68 per cent of global demand and presenting a great opportunity to Australia’s LNG producers.

source:
heraldsun.com.au