Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This debate should be about opportunity. This is a $9.5 billion project, requiring the single largest raising of funds on the planet. It is part of a massive investment in the Australian economy. It will create close to 7,000 Australian jobs—2,000 of which will be permanent, high-paying jobs for the 20 years plus life of this project—with billions of dollars of locally sourced construction investment and $20 million spent on training. That is the opportunity we should be discussing today. There is opportunity for Australians, for businesses, for workers and for the country.

But, for those opposite, there is only one opportunity that they are interested in, and that is their own. This MPI reflects their own opportunism. It is always about them; it is not about average Australians. This is not an opportunity to undermine confidence and it is not an opportunity to spread mistruths. It is important to outline some facts concerning the total number of 457 visas in this country. In the 2011-12 financial year, there were 56,010 457 visas granted to 30 April 2012. In Western Australia, this figure is 13,250. I understand from the department that, on current trends, WA will have the highest number of 457 visa grants out of any state or territory.

On Friday, the minister announced that the first enterprise migration agreement, EMA, would go to the Roy Hill project for up to 1,700 out of 8,500 jobs attached to the construction phase of that site. That 1,700—it is worth noting—equates to 12.8 per cent of the 457 visas in Western Australia and three per cent of 457 visas for the entire country. It is important to put that into context.

Regarding the whole process itself, in July 2010, as has been outlined to the chamber, the now Special Minister of State brought down the National resources sector employment taskforce report, which made a recommendation for enterprise migration agreements. In March, Ministers Evans and Ferguson tabled the government's response, which included in-principle support. This has been worked upon for some period of time. The Treasurer outlined in his budget speech last year that the government would implement EMAs. It was welcomed at the time as being a common-sense and important policy for the country. In September last year, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship released the guidelines and consulted with key stakeholders, including the ACTU. In November, there were active consultations with the Roy Hill project and unions about the shape of the EMA. It is important to recognise that this EMA will address skill challenges that are confronting the country. Skills Australia predicts that an additional 89,000 workers will be required in the mining sector by 2016. It is worth noting that we heard a lot from those opposite about sovereign risk and about how this agreement would undermine the mining sector in this country. Yet, if this were a sector under risk, if this were a sector that was worried about its future, how could it plan for nearly 100,000 people to be employed in a sector which is ready to invest $450 billion in the resources sector? If you think that that is risk, I do not know what your definition of risk is when you look at how strong the resources sector is for this country.

I have to declare an interest. My dad came to Australia, in part, as a result of a sort of EMA. He was part of the post-war migration where Australia was hungry for skills. There were big projects on the boil which placed major labour demands on the country, and he got to work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. I am a big fan of EMAs. I have seen the way that they have worked in this country by providing for local jobs and by bringing in skills and talent to make our economy and our country strong, and this approach makes sense. Most people get the common sense very quickly. Projects like this one, worth $9.5 billion, will create big labour demands of their own. Big projects will provide a massive jobs boost for many locals. Over 6,700 will get the opportunity to work. But what happens when you cannot get people to fill the spots and what happens when a $9.5 billion project cannot find people to fill the spots—

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