Premier Colin Barnett is attempting to cover up the fact that he has allowed Chevron to send the vast majority of the fabrication work from the massive Gorgon Gas project overseas, costing Western Australia thousands of skilled jobs and apprenticeship opportunities, says the AMWU.

In 2008, Premier Colin Barnett said Western Australia’s fabrication workshops would be full as a result of the Gorgon project.  However, with the project now under construction on Barrow Island, many of Western Australia’s workshops are laying off staff and the unemployment rate in Kwinana, Western Australia’s largest industrial precinct, is rising.

Speaking on 6PR’s Sattler program in late December, Mr Barnett said Gorgon had not yet moved into the steel construction phase and said significant work would flow to the local fabrication industry when it did.  Mr Barnett’s comments were also streamed live on the PerthNow website.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union State Secretary Steve McCartney said the Premier was misleading the public, as Gorgon had already awarded its steel fabrication contracts, with the vast majority of fabrication work to be done overseas.

“Colin Barnett knows that Gorgon has already awarded its steel contracts and he knows that the vast majority of this skilled work will happen overseas, creating jobs and opportunities in places like Thailand and leaving Western Australian kids wondering where their next apprenticeship is coming from,” Mr McCartney said.

“Sure, lots of our kids have jobs up north while projects like Gorgon are under construction, but what will they do after the construction boom is over?

“With Mr Barnett allowing projects like Gorgon to send billions of dollars of fabrication work overseas, our kids won’t have access to the apprenticeships and training they will need to get jobs after the boom.  And the WA economy won’t develop the skilled workforce we will need to create new industries and opportunities once the resources construction boom is over.

“Mr Barnett finds it easy to stand up to Canberra, but appears to go weak at the knees when representing Western Australia’s interests with the major resources companies.

“He should demand that projects like Gorgon do far more of their fabrication work in WA and use Western Australia’s vast reserves of natural resources to develop long term, skilled jobs and apprenticeship opportunities for Western Australian kids.”