Woodside Petroleum boss Peter Coleman and Hancock Prospecting chair Gina Rinehart have called for a sizeable portion of Australia's skilled workforce to go west and join the booming energy and resources sector.

 

Mr Coleman told the Commonwealth Business Forum that ever increasing Asian demand for resources would begin to outstrip supply if access to skilled labour begun to decrease.

 

"A substantial part of Australia's skilled workforce needs to move west if we're to meet the ever growing demands from our region for resources and energy," Mr Coleman told the forum."

 

Ms Rhineheart echoed Mr Coleman's concerns, describing the growing skills shortage as a "real risk" to major resources projects in Western Australia's north.

 

Mr Coleman also called for relaxed immigration laws to allow for greater access to foreign skilled workers.

 

Meanwhile the Communicaitons, Electrical and Plumbing Union has warned that WA faces a skilled trades crisis unless government and employers redouble efforts to arrest a decline in apprentice numbers.


The Union says it is concerned by new figures showing apprentice numbers in WA were down from 21,819 in March 2009 to 19,649 in June of this year, a 10 per cent drop.

 

"This is a deep concern and needs to be urgently addressed through better wages and a commitment to employing more apprentices,'' CEPU Assistant National Secretary Allen Hicks said.

 

"We're in the midst of a multi-decade resources boom and yet we see such an underwhelming response from the WA government to the skills crisis,'' he said.

 

"Equally, employers are not doing their fair share.

 

"They need to commit to higher apprentice ratios and better wages for apprentices.''