Concerns over local content

THE union representing professional engineers in Western Australia has stepped up its efforts to get more engineering design work for major resources projects undertaken locally.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers has expressed concern that WA engineers are not winning a fair share of work, particularly on major liquefied natural gas projects such as Chevron’s Gorgon development.

APESMA chief executive officer Chris Walton blames current legislation, which he believes is not sufficiently prescriptive to protect Australian engineering jobs.

The WA legislation in question is the Barrow Island Act 2003, which refers to the site of the Gorgon development.

The act specifies that design work should be done locally “wherever practicable and economical”. APESMA believes this legislation should be worded more strongly and administered with “more zeal”.

“The government has failed to ensure local projects are designed by local engineers,” Mr Walton said.

“We have the skills right here in our backyard. Why should companies go to Houston or London to fill Australian jobs, and at the same time potentially claim tax concessions for these positions?”

Mr Walton said the only work that had been won locally was low-end, and expressed concern that “the government is creating a system where we will dumb-down the skill level of local engineers to the point where no work can be done in WA”.

Engineers Australia executive director Janice Lake said the profession’s peak body supported the call for more local content but also recognised that private companies involved in the projects needed to make commercial decisions; they needed to procure skills for major projects where the skill and capacity lay, which was often offshore.

Ms Lake added the current LNG boom should provide an opportunity for WA to broaden capacity, but said there needed to be a more guided approach from government and a systematic assessment of what was needed in order for this to occur.

The concern over white-collar engineering jobs echoes the challenges facing local steel fabrication businesses, which have been unable to compete with offshore suppliers, in part because of the appreciating Australian dollar.

In response, Premier Colin Barnett has previously stated that the government will “continue to ensure that its local industry participation policy is fully comprehended by private companies”.

Labor training spokeswoman Ljiljanna Ravlich wants a more tangible response.

“In September last year, Labor suggested a Gorgon project office be established to help local companies to win contracts to employ local workers,” Ms Ravlich said.

“It is not good enough for the Barnett government to leave Western Australian jobs to chance.”