Mining jobs open to Australian work visa holders

February 26 2009 by Robbie Ragless

Some 30,000 jobs each year are to be added to the Australian mining workforce under new plans.

The Southern Australian mining jobs are to be offered to Filipinos initially, who will be given visas to work in Australia for up to ten years. This will be welcomed by the Philippines population, which has has suffered significant levels of unemployment as a result of the global financial crisis.

An agreement between the Filipino Department for Labor and Employment and Southern Australia is set to be signed soon, according to Marianito Rogue, the Philippines’ labour secretary. “We will be signing an agreement with Southern Australia to allow the entry of Filipino workers. This is what we called Adelite, mostly in mining, transport equipment operators and all other skills involving the mining community," says Rogue.

Rogue says the plan could see 300,000 Filipino workers moving to Australia over the next ten years, "In Southern Australia, they will get 30,000 Filipino workers (every year). All of these will be with working visas for the next ten years. So, in the next ten years, we would be able to send 300,000 Filipino workers. Australia is a continent and their economy is continuous."

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