PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) has called on the Western Australian government to develop a plan for reopening the state’s hard borders, after Premier Mark McGowan announced that the opening would be delayed from the February 5 target.
While not giving a firm date on the reopening of the state’s borders, McGowan said the full border opening was being delayed given the full impacts of the Omicron variant in Australia were still unknown, and that the peak of infections had not yet been reached in jurisdictions with widespread transmission.
“Nobody in our industry wants to see the health and safety of Western Australians put at risk, and the decision around re-opening must continue to be based, in the first instance, on health advice,” said Amec CEO Warren Pearce.
“However, at some point Western Australia must re-open, and we must have a plan for re-opening. It must also be acknowledged that continuing the hard border approach that has protected Western Australia from the spread of Covid-19 so far, is also causing real problems that can’t be ignored.
“These issues affect our workforces and businesses, at both a personal and professional level. For many in our workforce, this decision has a high personal cost, and means that they will continue to be separated from their families on the east coast, having moved to Western Australia over the last two years to continue their employment.”
“We know that this decision will cause distress for many of our workers, who have made significant sacrifices to support their families, and have been critical to supporting our industry and the state’s economy.
“The inability to bring in new labour for the resources sector has over the last two years put significant pressure on our industry and our workforce. This decision will further delay the ability of the mining industry to attract much needed workers to reinforce existing operations, support expansions, and for the construction of new projects,” said Pearce.
“The February 5 re-opening date was expected to help address these challenges.”
Pearce said that if the border remained closed for considerably longer, the state had to look urgently at introducing new measures to ease these pressures, and safely bring in a wider range of workers.
“Equally, the hard border has created major difficulties for companies that have operations and interests outside of Western Australia, including for explorers unable to access their projects in other States, and for the service sector based in Western Australia, which has clients and customers all across the country.
“As the timeframe for re-opening is now pending review, government can work with industry to ensure the requirements for when we ultimately re-open, are effective, appropriate and available well in advance.
“Our members need to know what will be required by government, to ensure that we are properly prepared and ensure the protection of our workers and the communities we work in,” said Pearce.
“Through the review process, the Western Australian government must clearly articulate the process and rules for re-opening for all industries. Western Australia needs a plan for safely re-opening, and our industry needs certainty from government about how and when this will happen.”