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Fiji’s miners and construction workers could be in big demand as the mining industry in Western Australia and Queensland face skills shortages.
The mining boom has created a shortage of skilled labour in Western Australia already while a Queensland business announced last week a $US60 billion 20-year deal to supply coal to China.
Queensland alone needs close to 20,000 skilled workers, with the natural gas industry needing up to 6000 tradesmen and professionals in the next 10 years for eight LNG projects plus thousands more construction workers.
And the coal industry in the state needs over 12,000 production and construction workers.
The demand for resource sector workers are taken care of in the latest immigration scheme reform announced this week.
Australian Immigration Minister Chris Evans outlined a new direction for the skilled migration program yesterday, complementing the economic strategies of the states and targeting skilled labour.
Australian High Commission spokesman in Suva, Dennis Rounds confirmed there is a demand for labour in the related field.
“Those who wish to work in the Australian mining industry would need either a skill on the current Critical Skill List (CSL) or sponsorship from their Australian employer or Australian state/territory government.”
He added that however, the CSL will be revoked when the new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) comes into effect in mid-2010.
“The SOL will have a more targeted list of occupations designed to meet the medium to long-term needs of the Australian economy,” Rounds said.
When the new targeted list of professions gets introduced, the "points" system will be re-evaluated with the potential for more weight to be placed on English as a first language.
