The Gillard Government has taken its promise of “offshore processing” too far in allowing Shell to use floating LNG technology to process gas from the Browse Basin, off the Kimberley Coast.

The decision will see the massive LNG facility manufactured in South East Asia and then sailed down into Australian waters.  Local manufacturers are set to miss out on more than 4,000 jobs and local communities miss out on the many benefits major projects like this can deliver when constructed onshore.

“The resources industry has a shameful history of sending manufacturing jobs to South East Asia, however this may be the first time that we see the construction done overseas and then sailed down into Australian waters.” Australian Manufacturing Workers Union State Secretary Steve McCartney said today.

“The Federal Government must act quickly and decisively to ensure that the manufacturing and construction of the floating LNG plant is done in Australia, or risk more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs sailing away.

“If Shell won’t commit to manufacturing and constructing the project in Australia, Julia Gillard should stop Shell’s offshore LNG processing boat and use Federal laws to bring the processing of the gas onshore.”

Mr McCartney said both State and Federal Governments were taking a short term view.

“Both the State and Federal Governments seem focused on pocketing the royalties from our major resources projects, but give little thought for life beyond the boom.

“I’m dissapointed that the Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has been so quick to sell Australian Jobs to the highest bidder, ignoring the benefits and flow on effects of developing Australian skills into the future.

“Our politicians should be insisting that the vast majority of the construction and fabrication of our major resources projects is done in Australia, so that we create high paid and high skilled jobs now, and provide training and apprenticeships for our kids.

“If the State and Federal Governments don’t do more to boost local content in the construction and manufacturing of our major resources projects, we won’t have a hope of developing new industries to create jobs once our natural resources run out.”