Minerals Council warms of labour costs (Oz)

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finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/aap/8533883/minerals-council-warns-of-labour-costs

A new report has warned labour costs in Australia's mining industry are among the highest in the world

The Minerals Council of Australia report said the latest modelling revealed capital costs had made new thermal coal projects 66 per cent more expensive and iron ore projects 30 per cent more costly to build than the global average.

The paper, produced by Port Jackson Partners, found real GDP would be 5.3 per cent lower in 2040 if Australia does not act to boost competitiveness, The Australian reported.

"Policy decisions made now can create or destroy an economic opportunity equal to more than five per cent of the Australian economy in 30 years, with lower minerals industry growth quickly translating into poorer economic performance," the report said.

The report outlines measures that could be adopted, including halting spiralling wage costs by deploying skilled immigration and sending workers in manufacturing jobs on the east coast to mining jobs in Western Australia.

Earlier this year the federal government sought to discredit preliminary modelling because Angus Taylor, a partner of Port Jackson Partners, was seeking Liberal party preselection.

Mr Taylor has since been pre-selected for the federal seat of Hume.

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Was the report funded by that woman who last week said Australians should work for $2/hr?

[knitty]

Nah, australians drink too much. She wanted to import Filipinos instead. Adds new meaning to the term FIFO, doesn't it?

But, since mines are the ones driving wages up, they get little symoathy from me.

www.smh.com.au/business/mining-and-resources/online-auctions-for-mining-workers-20120620-20n71.html

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Sept 16, 2012 20:52:44 GMT -5 @septimus said:

Was the report funded by that woman who last week said Australians should work for $2/hr?

Part of the problem is the significant income earned on the mines, people in the major cities want to earn the same without doing the hours or living in tin cities in the middle of nowhere - but that's all driven by the skills shortage. I'm not sure if he's saying the same extremes that Rinehart was. My opinion is overseas labour at less $ is not right (for many reasons), it hasn't worked in NZ, but the question is does unskilled labour deserve $120K a year (yes you read that right - and some would say for the isolation and the hours they work yes they do).