No jab no FIFO Premier says WA miners must get jabbed by December 1
WA mine workers must be fully vaccinated by January 1 to keep their jobs after WA Premier Mark McGowan on Tuesday extended compulsory vaccination to the exploration, mining, oil and gas sectors.
Resource workers have now joined police, health, transport and aged care workers in having vaccination a requirement of their employment.
BHP employees at Newman airport in the PilbaraCredit: Tony McDonough
The move came after Health Minister Roger Cook on Monday said there would be “consequences†for those who chose not to be vaccinated.
Mr McGowan said one goal of the mandatory jab mandate, which will require workers to have received their first vaccine by December 1, was to protect remote Aboriginal communities near mines.
In June WA Premier Mark McGowan said he would support mining companies if they chose to exclude unvaccinated workers from their sites. Mr McGowan made his comments after an outbreak of COVID at the Tanami gold mine in the Northern Territory resulted in 10 cases across the country.
The Premier on Tuesday said he did not think the sector would lose a significant number of workers as mining jobs were sought after and generally well paid.
Now the government has made vaccination mandatory across the industry it has removed the risk that company initiatives would result in a loss of workers to competitors at a time when the booming industry is facing a tight labour market.
WA currently trails behind all other states in vaccination rates for people aged 16 years or older with 48.5 per cent fully vaccinated and 66.6 per cent have received their first dose.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told 6PR’s Gareth Parker the primary reason WA lagged the nation was because there had been so little COVID in the state.
“Where the vaccination rates are highest, like in New South Wales, they’re in lockdown and people obviously want to get out of lockdown and so there is a big incentive to go and get vaccinated,†Mr Morrison said.
The prime minister said there was “no magic†about WA setting a date to open up, but there was medical support for doing so when 80 per cent vaccination was achieved.
Peter Milne covers business for WAtoday, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald with a focus on energy, mining, construction and property.Connect via Twitter or email.
0 Response to "No jab no FIFO Premier says WA miners must get jabbed by December 1"
Post a Comment