A Letter from a fellow Seafarer. Letter to the West Australian, July 25. So, Martin Ferguson is alleging that the Maritime Union of Australia is “putting political power plays ahead of its members and jeopardising the nation’s economic growth” (by campaigning against the government’s maritime crew visa, or MCV, and any other means by which he would see the Australian workforce replaced ). For anyone who does not know of this new visa, it would allow any seafarer from anywhere in the world to be employed and work in Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry. The incentive for large corporations is that these foreign seafarers will not be employed under current Australian wages and conditions, meaning they will be exploited, paid a fraction of what they should be, have no voice on safety issues and be disadvantaged on a range of areas. These workers will not pay tax in Australia. They will not spend any money here in fact. If this ideologically motivated government gets its way and removes an entire workforce it will in fact cost the economy many millions of dollars in, not just income tax, but all money currently earned here is spent here, in the Australian community. I have been a seafarer in the offshore industry, predominantly in WA’s North West, for 17 years, and I can tell you that in my experience I have never met a seafarer who did not want a project to succeed. To imply otherwise is a gross misrepresentation and ideologically motivated propaganda. It is an insult to the intelligence of a workforce that is professional, committed, safety conscious and internationally regarded as amongst the best in the world. The implication that we need to bring in workers because we don’t have the expertise here is another statement I take umbrage to. Australians have been successfully building offshore projects here (Bass Strait, North West Shelf etc.) for many decades. We are aware more than most that for our children and future generations of Australians to work in an Australian offshore industry projects such as Gorgon must be successful. They must be environmentally responsible, they must deliver the workforce home safely at the end of the swing, and yes, the major companies need to make a profit. The totally untrue allegation that the nation’s economic growth is in jeopardy is not surprising, coming from mouthpiece and chairman of the Petroleum Production and Exploration Association in Martin Ferguson. We are an island nation. As such, it should be the right of every Aussie kid to include “Seafarer” on his or her list of possible careers.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 14:39:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015