October 31, 2002 - Greens (WA) MLC, Robin Chapple today commended BHP Billiton for supporting the creation of local jobs in the recruitment process for its Products and Capacity Expansion (PACE) project at Port Hedland.
The company is encouraging its contractors to hire local labour for the $US299 million expansion and is using Mission Employment to search for suitably qualified residents to work on the project, set to begin in early 2004.
Mr Chapple said that the project would require a workforce of about 500 people and the more locals who became involved, the more advantages there would be for the local community.
“This is a positive initiative which will boost regional employment and the regional economy unlike fly-in fly-out workforces which contribute little to local communities. I encourage local people to take advantage of the opportunity to register with Mission employment for work on the project.'
Mr Chapple said BHP Billiton was setting an example he hoped other big companies would follow.
“I am hopeful that a monitoring process will be put in place to identify how effective this process is at utilising local labour. I believe this can be effective and that more large companies should begin turning to local workforces to complete their projects including Rio Tinto in Karratha,' he said.
