saving aussie resources for aussies, page-24

sotheby i reckon ya getting off track there.
seems foreign investment not only want to take over our company's and resources but austalian jobs as well.


October 26th, 2009 NT News.

A PEAK Chinese mining group has urged the Northern Territory to accept more foreign workers if there is to be any further investment in our resources industry.

China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters vice chairman Liu Yinan met Resources Minister Kon Vatskalis in Beijing yesterday.

The talks with the organisation came as part of Mr Vatskalis' trade mission to attract further Chinese investment in the NT.

Mr Yinan said the NT was rich in resources, but it was hard for Chinese citizensto find work in Australia.

"If you want to open a restaurant in Darwin and hire a chef from China, there are many restrictions," he said.

Mr Vatskalis said this scenario may be common in other parts of Australia, but not in the NT.

"While in the rest of Australia we have lots of workers, in the Northern Territory, we have the opposite," he said. "We still can't find workers."

Mr Vatskalis said the Inpex project would require 2000 workers in the Territory at the same time the Gorgon project would be attracting 10,000 workers to WA.

"All of them have to be specialised workers and we know we won't be able to find them in Australia," he said.

But Mr Vatskalis admitted that it was difficult to accept Chinese workers on 457 visas. "In the last few months, with the financial crisis, a lot of people are looking for jobs, so we are accepting fewer 457 visas," he said.

"The biggest problem with Chinese workers is not that they aren't skilled. It is that they can't speak English."

Mr Yinan also queried the Foreign Investment Review Board's crackdown on state-owned entities, preventing many Chinese companies from investing in Australia.


A PEAK Chinese mining group has urged the Northern Territory to accept more foreign workers if there is to be any further investment in our resources industry.

China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters vice chairman Liu Yinan met Resources Minister Kon Vatskalis in Beijing yesterday.

The talks with the organisation came as part of Mr Vatskalis' trade mission to attract further Chinese investment in the NT.

Mr Yinan said the NT was rich in resources, but it was hard for Chinese citizensto find work in Australia.

"If you want to open a restaurant in Darwin and hire a chef from China, there are many restrictions," he said.

Mr Vatskalis said this scenario may be common in other parts of Australia, but not in the NT.

"While in the rest of Australia we have lots of workers, in the Northern Territory, we have the opposite," he said. "We still can't find workers."

Mr Vatskalis said the Inpex project would require 2000 workers in the Territory at the same time the Gorgon project would be attracting 10,000 workers to WA.

"All of them have to be specialised workers and we know we won't be able to find them in Australia," he said.

But Mr Vatskalis admitted that it was difficult to accept Chinese workers on 457 visas. "In the last few months, with the financial crisis, a lot of people are looking for jobs, so we are accepting fewer 457 visas," he said.

"The biggest problem with Chinese workers is not that they aren't skilled. It is that they can't speak English."

Mr Yinan also queried the Foreign Investment Review Board's crackdown on state-owned entities, preventing many Chinese companies from investing in Australia.