It Is Compulsory For Overseas Offshore Oil, Gas Personnel In Down Under To Apply For Visas

In what could be called a not-too-positive development--from the perspectives of the overseas workers, keen to work in the thriving and the multi-billion dollar offshore oil and gas industry of Australia--the highest court in the nation has reportedly decided that the overseas manpower working on the ships in the business must, at present, possess a visa to do the same.

Hitherto, the non-Australians, professionally engaged with the resources installations, have been in a position to do a job, minus requiring a visa. However, the decision of the court denotes that it will be essential for them to possess either a Short Stay Visa or a 457 Skilled Visa.

Despite the fact that the maritime trade unions have praised the decision, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has reportedly portrayed it as unacceptable, saying the same will not help and cut back the industry’s competitiveness.

Reportedly, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITWF) has praised the undisputed decision by the nation’s High Court which observed that the decision of the administration in 2015, to exempt the offshore personnel from domestic visa conditions was unacceptable.

According to the federation’s president, bringing in frequently exploited overseas personnel is a pretty hazardous attack on the rights and safe working conditions of seafarers, not considering their nation or origin. He added that it is mandatory that the offshore industry in any country’s territory is the area of the national employees since the same involves the development of that nation’s sovereign and public assets.

He indicated that the unions observed the subject incredibly closely as it was an unashamed assault on the nationals’ rights to do a job in their own nation.

Allegedly, the Australian Government had enormously over reached with these complicated legislative instruments even while Dutton’s efforts to bypass the existing rules and offer loose work rights to the personnel from abroad was never a good thought.

It is also claimed that the key outcome is that it puts a stop to the administration’s efforts to chip away at the jobs of the local seafarers in the offshore oil and gas business, which is what they did by throwing the doors of the business wide open for the overseas workers.

But, the immigration minister reportedly stated that he opines that the exemptions had been made to defend jobs and offer certainty for the offshore resources business. As mentioned before, he termed the decision relating to workers on vessels operating in the offshore resources industry rather disappointing.

He elucidated that despite the fact that it is necessary that the manpower, on fixed offshore installations, possess an Australian visa, the crews on some ships--which do exceedingly specialized work--frequently of a short term nature, were exempted from the condition. Numerous of such vessels operate in the international waters even as they, in no way, enter an Australian port.

As if to justify the previous move, he stated that the administration proffered the limited visa exemption to both defend and support jobs for the local personnel and offer certainty for the offshore resources business.

But, after the High Court decision, labor force on these ships will, at present, have to submit an application for and get a visa prior to they can do a job inside the offshore resource segment. This will add formalities, add expenses to industry, and cut down the competitiveness of the nation’s biggest export earners, he further alleged.

Sharing the minister’s thoughts, a concerned person reportedly stated that the development may have an effect on the industry’s future since the dedicated non-Australian crews play a tiny but vital part of developing offshore resources missions.

He added that making the hiring process of such manpower more regulated, more dear, and tougher in Oz, than it is in competing resource economies, will have results even as it will make it even harder to usher-in future resource investment to the country.