Rechtub actually you at times throw my words back at me.
I first pointed out workers are, right now rejecting east coast jobs to go west.
Yabby throws Howe's at me, not sure what it has to do with the facts.
This project would not go ahead without the 457 visas.
This is only the start , actually hundreds of thousands of workers will be needed.
And AUSTRALIA will never be able to fill all those jobs!
Class warfare is a child from stupid unfit parentage.
Hancock father of Gina earned every cent he ever made, projects such as this need a Gina, she is no different than a German or Chinese project owner.
Ludwig and I share the view this country can not support endless population growth.
But note as the workers shortages grow,and they will, we may see full time migration, to new towns built for these mines and 457 at least is another way.

Some want to flog the ALP for doing the right thing.

Let me explain myself.
Class warfare, reintroduced by an aging Wayne Swan and Gillard, is a failure.
We can if that is what we wish, insult Gina and the mining millionaires.
But class warfare is dead, as dead as Gillards chances of EVER leading Labor out of the wilderness her imposition on the country has lead us.
And as dead as the brain movements in the heads of those who think standing stunned in the headlights telling us she is the only option is an answer.
At sometime in the future, under Conservative government, those protesting this action, will see it done numbers much bigger.

*And as dead as the brain movements in the heads of those who think standing stunned in the headlights telling us she is the only option is an answer*

Belly, its Mr Howe who is busy raising class warfare yet again.
Cameron is another one. In fact many union leaders are good at it.

As to the PM, you can't keep changing them like your underwear, it
leads to instability. Stick to what you have for now. Rudd is a bit
like dating a past girlfriend, all the old crap resurfaces once a
certain amount of water has flown under the bridge. You can't
make it go upstream

Labor MP Kelvin Thomson spoke on Gina’s 1700 imported workers this morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPL31VlSGXo&feature=youtu.be

He does not support enterprise migration agreements. He says that they are a confession of failure in regard to our permanent migrant worker program. This program which has been multiplied by more than five times since the mid 90s is supposed to be meeting the needs of the mining boom. But it is not doing that.

He's going against his own party here. I think he is spot-on with all his comments in this interview.

Yabby at least I know the bloke, I too know of his book, the part he played in dumping Rudd.
I know along with big Bill Ludwig he supports her still yet I know too he is as I say a man of the future.
One thing you can be sure of, with inflation unemployment under 5% the economy in fine condition, Labors stocks have never been lower.
Up 2% over night, Gillard preferred PM!
But 60% unhappy with the job BOTH LEADERS are doing.
We will not in our life time see Labor this low again.
Bill Shorten will lead, soon or never,Howe's has time,I want him to remain head of my union, to complete a much needed reform, but he in time will add to our talent.
Yabby are you trying to divert the thread, do you not agree the east coast can not forever power the workforce in the three mining states, leave QLD its here.
Ludwig, here are the facts, full time migration will climb to fill such positions, it must.
We in time will look back at 457 visas with fond memory's as Islands of migration form instead.
Our mining boom is here and growing faster than our population can sustain.

Chris Sutherland, a labour recruiter for the big resource companies, was interviewed on Radio National on the ABC this morning. He said that his firm was given the job of filling 80 positions at Fortescue Metals. There were more than 3,000 applications for the jobs from those lazy Australians who don't want to move from the Southest. They cut this down to a short list of 300 applicants, and the 80 positions were filled. Some job specific training was required, but Fortescue was willing to provide it. Sutherland reckons that there is a lot of potential to provide Australian workers, but some advance planning is needed. He was followed by a unionist who said that there were thousands and thousands of kids in Victoria who would give their left leg for an apprenticeship.

The beauty of Rehctub's idea of HECS-type funding of training followed by work experience in actual mines is that we can test whether the employers have a genuine problem or whether they simply want cheap, compliant labour, while the social and welfare costs of the excluded Australian workers and ultimately, the infrastructure costs of the foreign workers are thrown onto the community as a whole. (As the saying goes, there is nothing so permanent as a temporary worker.) No willingness to provide work experience or to hire qualified Australians, no visas.