Published: 12 Aug 2014
Maritime Workers are calling on the Northern Territory Government to stand up for local jobs after the Federal Government announced it would be implementing a ‘designated area migration agreement’ for the Territory.
Just three days after widespread rorting of the migration visa system was revealed by the mainstream media, Senator Michaelia Cash announced the decision to allow foreign workers to fill jobs at the behest of Australian workers.
Maritime Union of Australia Northern Territory Branch Secretary Thomas Mayor has said this latest move has made it obvious that the Country Liberal Party and the Abbott Government are not serious about job creation.
“The local Country Liberal Government said they would stand up for local workers and opening up the floodgates to foreign workers is contrary to their promise to encourage local content and job participation,” Mayor said.
“If the Government was serious about creating jobs they should act immediately to stop the visa rorts of bad employers. Adam Giles should be disgusted by the widespread rorting of the migration system not actively encouraging it.”
The MUA works closely with Indigenous groups including the Larrakia people of the Darwin region.
“Aboriginal unemployment in the NT is higher than anywhere in Australia at approximately 20 per cent,” Mayor said.
“Surely the best way to close the gap and end Indigenous disadvantage is by training and upskilling people from the local community to be able to do these jobs that are in a supposed shortage.”
“The answer to this unacceptable inequality is not to drive down wages by creating a haven for foreign worker exploitation.
“Implementing this half-cooked policy will not benefit the local communities one bit. The only winners will be the shareholders of the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Inpex.”
