Australian skills shortage “a risk to recovery”

Industry leaders in Australia are urging the Australian federal government to overhaul its skilled immigration program to address a looming shortage of workers.

Recent changes by DIAC to the skilled migration visa processing times have meant that many hundreds of applicants for visas have been told that they may have to wait up to 3 years and this is slated to impact on several massive projects announced for Western Australia, including the Gorgon gas development, expansion of the Pluto LNG plant and the development of the Mid-West iron ore region including the massive Gindalbie iron ore mine which will need upwards of 1500 workers during the construction stage.

 The recent Australian Financial Review (afr.com.au) has stated that skills shortages are set to intensify in coming years.

The article calls for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to urgently look at reviewing Australian visa policies to ensure that these shortages can be filled. More immigrants will be needed to work in Australia in industries such as energy, mining  and IT which, according to the review, face a major skills shortage unless something drastic is done to alleviate it.

Major Australian firms such as infrastructure giant United Group have also released warnings to the government that they will be facing skills shortages within 12 to 18 months.

The firm’s CEO Richard Leupen declared that the shortage has been brought about as a result of the tightening of the business visa rules. He says this has coincided with the company’s reduction in training programmes for staff in response to the recession.

In the IT industry, the need is even more acute. A study, commissioned by Microsoft Australia, has found the IT industry will generate $21 billion for GDP by the end of 2013 but any potential growth could be stifled by the shortage of skilled labour.

Bruce Mills, chief executive of IT consultancy firm 3W, says as more IT work becomes available, such as the National Broadband Network, companies will struggle to grow and obtain new projects if the number of skilled workers remains flat.

“What has occurred is that everything that was done to avoid the global financial crisis has sort of spilled over, and so by the time any of the results were felt any issue that caused the crisis is over, and that is what has happened with the tightening of 457 visas.”

Source  :  www.australiamagazine.co.uk

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Australia’s tsunami system performs well

Last night’s tsunami warning for south-eastern Australia, may have come to nothing, but it did demonstrate the worth of the monitoring system, says one expert.

The warning was announced soon after an earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, occurred off the south coast of New Zealand’s South Island.

Chief Meteorologist Dr Chris Ryan, of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre, says the epicentre was located in the closest earthquake source zone to Australia, a region known as the Puysegur seduction zone.

He says, despite being close to Australia, the region is far enough away that a tsunami would take more two hours to reach the coast.

Ryan says the tsunami that followed only warranted a ‘marine threat’ warning with waves rising 30 centimetres at Port Kembla, near Wollongong and no significant damage has been reported.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Seismologist David Jepsen, of Geoscience Australia, says it took two hours for waves from New Zealand to get to Tasmania.

He says the Puysegur seduction zone is a region where Australia’s tectonic plate pushes underneath the Pacific plate.

Although the Australian tsunami warning system is one of the best in the world, the system is still pretty new.

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$3billion proposal to upgrade Perth Airport

Perth Airport is set for a $3 billion upgrade over the next 10 years to transform it into a transportation showpiece.    
The capital works program, from private and government sources, is the biggest ever for the airport.

In line there is  a $1 billion in terminal facilities, $525 million for road upgrades and $1.4 billion in hotels and multi-storey carparks. 
   
Terminal WA is set to be opened in 2011, and an integrated international and domestic terminal on the site of the existing international terminal to be phased in over the next seven years. 
  

 Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said yesterday that the airport would become one of the best in the Asia-Pacific region. 
  

The master plan, which is available for public comment until August 10, outlines the airport’s plans through to 2019 and brings development forward 10 years.  
   
The  terminal upgrades, a new ring road and improvements to key intersections will be started over the next 12 months.

The escalators will be on the left of the building and will take departing passengers and the public upstairs. The existing facilities will be for arrivals only. 
   
Major funding has also been committed to upgrade the road network around the airport.

The Budget included more than $115 million in projected major intersection works along the Tonkin Highway interfacing with Perth Airport.

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Daylight Saving Result

The votes have been counted and WA has again rejected daylight saving.

For the fourth time in 34 years West Australians gave daylight saving the thumbs down.   West Australians have rejected daylight saving in what will be the final referendum during the Barnett Government’s  power.

Results showing No vote has a lead – 531,786 votes against daylight saving compared to 426,531 for Yes to save  daylight saving. 

Premier Colin Barnett post an early vote  placing a ‘Yes’ on his ballot paper, although he said a ‘Yes’ vote was unlikely to win.

Mr Barnett described the poll as a lifestyle issue and said whatever the outcome it would not really effect people’s lives.

The Yes cause fared best in northern coastal suburbs such as Joondalup, Mindarie, Ocean Reef and Hillarys.

In WA’s agricultural region the no vote had a massive 83.84 per cent of the vote.

Three per cent of WA voters were undecided.

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