PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian government has launched a new digital resource to link Western Australians to jobs and training opportunities in the resources sector.
The online tool, accessed through the government's Jobs and Skills WA website, provides information on current and future training and employment opportunities in the resources sector, and advice on how they can be accessed.
"This new online resource will ensure Western Australians have all the information they need to prepare for a career in the resources sector,” said Premier Mark McGowan.
"We have made it clear that employing workers from the eastern states is no longer viable for our state, and we want Western Australians to be trained for future jobs in the mining and oil and gas industries.
"The new webpage will link Westerns Australians to employment opportunities and will ensure they have the right training to enter the workforce.”
The Premier noted that there were more than A$100-billion worth of Western Australian resources projects in the pipeline, and it was vital that the state government did everything it could to ensure they create jobs and training opportunities for Western Australians.
The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) has welcomed the new portal, with Western Australian director Claire Wilkinson saying the webpage would be a useful resource for people looking for new employment and training opportunities in the oil and gas sector.
“Oil and gas will be part of Western Australia’s economic fabric well into the future, just as it has supported our way of life in recent decades. We will need people with skills relevant to the oil and gas sector for years to come, and it would be great if we could employ these people from within Western Australia,” said Wilkinson.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted skills shortages in the state where we need to operate and maintain oil and gas facilities and keep essential energy supplies flowing to homes and businesses.
“We have noticed particular skills shortages in operations including marine, electrical and mechanical as well as plant operator and maintenance skills, so training in these areas could provide good opportunities for Western Australians to work in our sector.”
Wilkinson pointed out that Western Australia had a significant amount of natural gas reserves, and added that the responsible development of these resources, both onshore and offshore, would provide lower emission baseload power and continue to form part of the state’s energy mix into the future.
“Gas will also be crucial to supporting development of new energy technologies such as solar, wind and hydrogen and providing baseload energy when the wind does not blow or the sun does not shine.”