Hi Gill (apologies I spelt your name with a J in my last post)
I wasn't disagreeing with you either, I didn't mean that the Unions rule the roost entirely just that with the current Labour Government are pretty closely aligned with them. The main problem is that Truck driving is only regarded as a semi skilled occupation and the fact that the UK HGV is not recognised in Oz and you'd have to be retested upon arrival doesn't help. Truck Driving in Oz is not as regulated as it is here in the UK and from my own experiences is a much more rough and ready than here.
I have e-mailed replies from dept immigration saying that they will process 457 applications for Truck drivers but the DIAC have e-mailed a colleague saying they won't.
As I said there is lots of vacancies for drivers especially in Qld where I was looking and lots of agencies willing to take your money for a job offer which aren't that hard to secure due to the shortage but the chances of getting a visa approved are virtually nil at the mo. As for Allan McDonalds fears of getting the cold shoulder I drove a low loader for SK Group out of Brisbane Port and was accepted ok saying that I think the profession ranks with the best for being politically incorrect so you have to have quite a thick skin!
As for the mines I've got a contact quite high up in BHP Biliton who cannot do anything on the sponsorship front because they've got people wating for the "unskilled" jobs therefore can't justify the sponsorship criteria.
Personally I've about given up on Oz as I'm 45 at the end of this year and probably left it too late, I've been trying to find an opening for nearly 18 months to no avail just lots of people wanting to releive me of some quite big sums of money.
If the DIAC would approve some sort of criteria at least you would have the chance of proving whether you were experienced enough.
The working party you're on about with Barbara Deegan is not the same one I was talking about so you're ahead of me on that one. I've got documentation on it but it's to big a file to insert on this post.
I would back Jamie in his approaches as like you say the more he's speaking for the more weight he'll carry hopefully!
Alan
