Last Updated: December 29, 2011


1500 mining Bowen Basin mining jobs unfilled despite incentives

    From: The Courier-Mail


MORE than 1500 jobs in the Bowen Basin are going begging despite salaries worth close to half a million dollars for executives and some companies offering free home loans to employees.   

BHP's joint venture coal mines are understood to have 750 vacant jobs in central Queensland while Rio Tinto has 530 vacancies at its global operations.

Recruiters are now offering big incentives to get the right people, sparking a pay war between Queensland and Western Australia with direct flights now taking workers from Brisbane to jobs in the Pilbara. Anglo Coal and Xstrata also have a swag of jobs on their websites.

"Companies are doing their darndest to just hold the line on vacancies," Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said.

According to recruiters Robert Walters, project managers in mining can now earn more than $500,000 a year, while a mine deputy can get $200,000.

Labourers are getting $100,000 in Dalby and dozer drivers are earning $50 an hour.

"I've seen sign-on bonuses for 50 per cent of a salary," Robert Walters' head of mining and engineering Adam Harris said.

He said some executives were getting their home loans repaid, others had their children's school fees covered and huge bonuses were being paid to stay beyond three or four years.

The QRC also found that there were 4924 current internet job advertisements for the mining industry in Queensland with 1300 posted in one week in April.

Mr Roche said recruitment was the number one issue for companies. "There's fierce competition and a choosy workforce where people are deciding the terms and where they will live," he said.

While workers are enjoying a golden period there are growing concerns in regional Queensland that the mining boom is going too far, too fast.

Isaac Shire Council, in the heart of the Bowen Basin, has called for a cap on non-residential workers who fly in each roster and leave for their weekends at home in Brisbane or other cities.

The council's mayor has also called for buffer zones around towns to stop the encroachment of mines on residential areas.

Isaac Mayor Cedric Marshall said the fly-in, fly-out workforce was sapping the council budget and not contributing anything.   

"Our population is only 21,500 and there are 9000 itinerant workers and they are using all our facilities," Cr Marshall said.

"The boom is going at 100 miles an hour. I think we need to take a serious look at it."

However, Mr Roche said companies were making huge contributions to communities.

Comments on this story

    John of Craigieburn Posted at 9:26 PM December 28, 2011

        These jobs dont exist - its a ruse to get cheap labour in on a 457 visa. I.T has been doing it, and now mining.   

    Terry Posted at 8:29 PM December 28, 2011

        These vacancies are all a fiddle, they don't exist, despite having degrees in the Sciences, Chemistry, Electronics etc., I have applied in appropriate industries but either have heard nothing from a potential employer, or worse, have been kept on a string, with sometimes three or more interviews, only to learn of an internal promotion which has negated my attempt at seeking.Now that I have retired, I can say that many jobs, whilst actually advertised, the jobs do not exist, the Companies can then go bleating to government and say, look, we have advertised in this specialist magazine or this newspaper etc.,what really happens is that they are then able to bring in from low salary nations, India, China, Malaysia, qualified persons to whom they will pay lower than Australian Salary rates and conditions. Having worked for the Chambers of Commerce in New Zealand, I saw this game play often, especially with the large international companies, they lack integrity, they will try all the methods open to them and it is hard to establish the truth.Best offer your services overseas, Singapore and Hong for instance which offer higher living standards than Australia plus you'll be well paid too.   

It's all spin. I know of a diesel engineer or fitter whatever? who can't get a job in the mines.

They get the info from government agencies so they have an excuse to rev up the 457 visa's.

IT'S A CON

but we all know that, don't we?

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Dec 29^th, 2011 at 7:18am:


My wife's Uncle is in there now worries, and on massive kanga too.

Sending hopeful emails is not the answer to getting a job.  He rocked up to a recruiters office and the rest is history.

This is a very scary situation for Australians, but they have brought this circumstance on themselves by allowing politicians to behave negligently in allowing TOO MUCH foreign owned industry and commerce in their own country.  Its only natural these foreign owned business & industries will want to hire the cheapest labour possible to make profits (not Australian workers) and that means importing cheap works into Australia using 457 visas on the pretence that they cannot find suitable workers in Australia.

Right now Australia has a population of very stupid people who don’t care about what’s politically happening around them, and that stupidity is reflected by the stupid Gillard/Brown/ Independent Government that is governing the country.

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Dec 29^th, 2011 at 10:25am:



Every four months or so the media will belch out the same ad nauseam show highlighting how the Australian fruit industry cannot get enough fruit pickers without the introduction of allowing foreign worker in on a 457 visa. 

What the media, the politicians & the fruit growers don’t tell the general public is: that when Aussies show up to pick the fruit they are being under paid for their time, because there is NO award legislating the fruit picking industry.  Most people are paid by the “amount” of fruit & vegetables they pick, not by how much time they spend picking the fruit & veg - big difference in salaries.

What people don’t understand is that the people from the small Island communities that come into Australia to pick fruit are not on the same standards of income as Australians, and therefore, these people are prepared to work for less pay than the Australians, because by doing so, they are still making big money by Australian standards.

I cannot believe there are so many people around that still trust and believe in what the media & politicians tell them.

Quote:


Fruit pickers come under the Horticulture Industry Award 2010.

I don't know what that is, but around here pickers get about $20ph to $23ph (the higher rates for machine operators or shed work).

The only time they pay bucket rates around here is for people who just want to do one or two days picking (i.e. they get paid at the end of the day, not paid weekly) - but that's often impossible for things like tomatoes and avos where you're just throwing the things down a chute.

My son is, as we speak driving to Perth. He is just about at the 1/2 way point on the other side of Ceduna and heading onto the Nullabor.

He is going to WA to get a job in the mines as NSW employment is SOOO bad with so many dodgy companies in construction. Many school friends have already moved to WA so he has accommodation.

I only hope he makes the trip safely with no car troubles as it is 4,000 kms from Sydney and than I hope that he can find the employment he is looking for.

You have to go to the recruiters and hassle.

But i agree most of these jobs are non existent.

And yes it is true that they are now FIFO from Brisbne to the Pilbara.

Qld mines are different from WA. QLD are DIDO with very high rental costs. WA are mostly FIFO from Perth.

Getting a job in the mines without prior mine or construction experience and a ticket or three is pretty damn hard. A lot of places require that you've coughed up for a mine industry induction course before you even apply for a job.

Even a being a spotter requires a ticket these days.