EMAs essential for resource project viability
Judith Sloan From: The Australian May 28, 2012 12:00AM

THE approval of the first Enterprise Migration Agreement with the Roy Hill iron ore project, partly owned by Gina Rinehart, is an example of good public policy.

The EMA will allow the mining project in the Pilbara to sponsor more than 1700 workers on 457 visas during the construction phase "where they cannot find Australians to fill the positions".

In addition, there will be 2000 training places for Australians, including 200 apprenticeships and traineeships. There is also a commitment to prepare 100 indigenous people for work in the construction industry. A Jobs Board is to be created to ensure that "foreign workers are only recruited after genuine efforts to first employ Australians".

This EMA has also been finalised against the backdrop of recent strong growth in 457 visa applications from Western Australia, with civil engineers, mechanical engineering technicians and geologists now making up the top three occupations,

According to Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, this first EMA is "a great outcome for the industry. We need EMAs to cut red-tape for very large resources projects. EMAs address one of the biggest risks to many of these projects which is inadequate supply of labour and skills in the short-term construction phase."

The introduction of EMAs - which are available only for projects worth more than $2 billion - is both sound and logical. Without the flexibility to bring in temporary migrants to fill specific skilled vacancies, a large project like Roy Hill could easily founder, both because of a shortage of skilled workers and a blowout in costs.

It also makes sense to bring temporary migrants to undertake the temporary jobs available during the construction phase.

Given the many safeguards, the reaction to the announcement of the Roy Hill EMA has been surprising. In fact, there is stiff competition for the most over-the-top retort. National secretary of the Australian Workers Union Paul Howes is a clear contender with his comment that: "I thought we were actually attacking these guys at the moment. Whose side are we on? This is a big win for Gina Rinehart, it's a big win for Clive Palmer."