This thread (or this post, anyway) is solely to bring you up to date with the delving I have been doing to try to find out why there is a visa problem for you.
Giacci Bros are a major haulier in WA by the looks of things, though they do not seem to have a website. This is what they told somebody on British Expats a year ago:
Jamie Smith of Hire A Migrant was kind enough to tell me that Linfox are one of the largest road transport companies in Australia, though my searches on them have not produced anything except their website:
Jamie has said that if enough HGV drivers are willing to club together to pay Hire A Migrant's costs for investigating just what is going on. he estimates that the costs per person would be negligible.
I would imagine that Jamie would start by contacting the various Regional Certifying Bodies in Oz, plus the DIAC State Offices, to find out what they can tell him about why there is a problem. The major transport companies might know as well and if not, their views (for or against the idea of sponsoring foreign drivers) might provide some valuable insights.
Jamie reckons it would be about 3 days work. He could NOT get the answers in 3 days! He means it would be about 3 full days worth of work in total, or around 24 actual hours of work. Mmmmmm. I'd go higher than that and probably treble it myself.
I just have a feeling that the whole of this story has yet to be sussed out and told. The strands that I've heard from various sources simply do not hang together in a logical sequence so far.
If Jamie can get the right sort of dialogue going with senior DIAC people at State level he can probably also track down the bod at DIAC Central Office in Canberra who is in charge of this particular piece of Policy and find out from him/her why it is that HGV driving has been removed from the SOL and why it is plainly the case that different people have been having different experiences with the supposed embargo.
Please respond to this thread if you are interested in pursuing this sort of line of enquiry. My own inclination is to leave it to Jamie to talk with the companies, in particular, and also he is likely to get further with DIAC if he is asking on behalf of lots of British drivers than if anyone tries to do this via individual, piecemeal enquiries.
It would be good for any information you can get a hold of Gill
We are going to oz in December to try and get sponsorship. My hubby has his own business with concrete mixers and with the building boom going on we seem to think that he might be able to get sponsorship. They obviously need concrete to build!
It is a shame that HGV isnt on the list, we didnt even know that it had even been on in the first place
Melanie
Location: From Bury,Manchester To Jimboomba, Brisbane
Posts: 5,412
In was in the papers not too long ago that they were reluctant to release a visa for drivers in fear of lots of foreigen drivers coming over and not quite understanding the language or road rules.I dont think it was aimed at the uk drivers but they cant say that can they? with the amount of driving jobs on offer it is such a shame theres no current way in for drivers ,go go jamie i say!
Cal x
I was in contact with Booths last June about sponsorship as a truck driver when I got a reply from them stating that the government were not processing any applications for truck driving 457's until they had the results of a "Working Party" set up to look into the needs of the Aussie Transport Industry, due to publish it's findings towards the end of 2007 but doesn't seem to of yet. I contacted the then Minister for immigration Kevin Andrews for him to tell me that they were still processing 457 applications but they were coming under extra scrutiny and would probably go to Canberra for review! The Unions DO NOT want immigrant drivers and are opposing any form of visa's for Truckies as they are certain that it'll drive down wages and conditions. Similar has happened in the UK with the East Europeans and Polish drivers in my opinion?
There is a thread on British Ex Pats Unfortunately – No Go with Australian Drivers for now !! : British Expat Discussion Forum The whole forum on Trucking Employment is a mine of information on the current situation regarding sponsorship if any one is interested.
I spoke to Jamie personaly at the Sandown show this year about the difficulties currently faced to which he did have a few ideas!
I myself spent 3 months in Qld last year trying to gain sponsorship, there are loads of vacancies out there but mention the dreaded S word and they run for cover.
My own personal worry is paying out what is in fact a lot of money to different specialists (Recruitment Agencies etc: I know you're not one Jamie) only then to be told by the Government that you can't have a visa temporary or otherwise.
What is a shame is that if I wanted to go to Canada I could be out there on a Temporary Work permit in 6 wks with PR in 9 months under the PNP program, just wish Oz was as easy!!!
Hope I didn't go on too much but this is my own experiences of the sponsorship route.
Thanks very much for your post and for the link contained in it.
I'm not directly involved in the trucking issue in any way, so my information about it is necessarily second-hand, unlike your own.
I'm not disagreeing with you for one moment. I want to run something past you though, if I may?
Earlier this year I was chatting with Sandy Coates of Global TradeDearach in Adelaide, which is a recruitment agency. Sandy is a recruitment specialist and she is married to Richard Coates, a recently qualified Registered Migration Agent.
Sandy mentioned that she has LOADS of vacancies for drivers of all kinds (ie both road vehicles and the big dumper trucks etc that they use in the mines.) I mentioned that there is no shortage of Britons who would gladly fill the vacancies if they could get visas.
Sandy spoke with some of the companies and they were hot to trot, willing to sponsor British drivers etc, so Sandy asked me to ask the British drivers to send her their CVs. Together, she and I decided to consult Richard first, to see how confident he felt about being able to get the visas, and which visas. I mentioned that I had heard that the Unions are allegedly the driving force in slamming the door on visas for foreign drivers.
Richard's view was/is that this is not the case. He said that the Unions are vociferous but that companies who need drivers are not intimidated by the Unions. (Jamie also shares this view to judge from a recent exchange I had with him.) Richard reckoned that the statistics held by the RTAs in Australia show that there are enough licensed drivers in Oz to fill all the vacancies for them annd that therefore - in theory at least - Australia does not have a need to import this particular range of skills..
Richard reckoned that DIAC themselves - not the Unions - are blocking the visas: as is now confirmed on the recent BE thread. Richard's view - adamantly - was that Sandy and I were wasting our time because he would not be able to get visa for the drivers, no matter what they and the companies with the vacancies might want.
This was back in Jan/Feb 2008. I did a bit of digging around in Google Australia at the time and found a PDF file. It was some sort of briefing by one of the Unions, for what seemed to be a forthcoming annual parley between the Unions and DIAC about the topic of visas for HV drivers. As far as I could gather, a series of meetings between DIAC and the Unions - or one of them - was scheduled for about the same time but I have not been able to discover any more about that, or about any outcome.
Much more recently I read that a lady called Barbara Deegan, who I think is something to do with the Department of Industry - is heading some sort of Working Party to investigate road transport in Australia in general. I don't know whether this is the same Working Party that you have mentioned?
I've read loads of arguments put forward by the Unions (via Google Australia.) I haven't ben able to discover anything about what the employers say though. (And not a squeak about what DIAC think or say either.) Jamie tells me that Linday Fox is on record recently as saying that he thinks the roads are inadequate to deal with the increased levels of road transport that are going to be needed d in the foreseeable future. I have not managed to find a single word by Mr Fox on the subject of visas for drivers.
Having read your post, I think that the work which Jamie volunteered to undertake has probably already been done by yourself and the other contributors to the BE trucking forum. Jamie was merely willing to see what else he could discover if anyone wants him to try.
I find the whole thing thoroughly frustrating because I am still not clear about what the sticking points are actually supposed to be in all this. I just get the feeling that we are hearing from the factions - some of it possibly greatly exaggerated - but that we are not hearing anything from the centre, if you see what I mean? If the Unions are the ones blocking the visas, how have they managed to stifle the companies with the need for the drivers? Something about all this does not compute but I can't pinpoint the exact crux of the issue.
It is just plain irritating that we do not seem to be able to clear this jog jam.
It was Sandy who sent me an email about a month ago advising that they are after approximately 20 HGV drivers for a project in the Adelaide area and that her husband was trying to get that off the ground. What you have written makes sense now.
I am keeping in touch with Sandy this month before we go on holiday to Ibiza and when I come back. If I do get the chance of an interview then to be honest I'm bricking it.
Haven't driven HGV for 20 years, everything has changed and I would need to go an an immediate refresher. The driving doesn't bother me but I'm getting nerves at 40 about doing a totally different job.
Also, it would be interesting to see how fellow Australian HGV drivers would take to you. Can see a bit of the "Cold Shoulder" playing a part here because the union said so.
I'm not going to get a railway job in Oz and even if did get a HGV job, with this credit crunch looming, it's going to be difficult to move.
I have a job interview coming up for another position in London shortly and I think depending on how that goes, depends on what my family and I do.
Speaking honestly I don't think Australia is going to happen for us and may have to turn attentions to Spain, which is what we were planning a while back. Will see how it goes.
My only disheartening thoughts are that if this Island, Britain, was so rigerous in its immigration imports, as is Australia, I could accept that. We are a good, hard working, honest family trying to live on another part of the planet and it appears that it's becoming impossible trying to achieve this goal.
We'll see how it goes anyway but thanks for the info Gill and co.
__________________
31/01/2008 - Emigration research for "Operation Australia" commenced.
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!
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.
Alan
I have 4 years to sort it and in the same boat as you for trying and getting nowhere.
Yes I do have thick skin. It's called working on the railway here so piss taking just has no affect on me whatsoever.
And it would just be nice to get back to the good old politically incorrect instead of the PC Brigade trying to do you for dropping an apple core, piece of sausage role or having the wrong fishing rod licence.
Allan (your namesake but with an extra "l")
__________________
31/01/2008 - Emigration research for "Operation Australia" commenced.
[quote
And it would just be nice to get back to the good old politically incorrect instead of the PC Brigade trying to do you for dropping an apple core, piece of sausage role or having the wrong fishing rod licence.[/quote]
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
Hi Alan
I have been in contact with Darrell Todd from thinking Australia today and he has told me he has managed to get 9 HGV drivers into QLD and SA............why don't you try him if you haven't already done so. We are meeting up with him in June in Sheffield so maybe have more news then
good luck
__________________
Best wishes
Lynne Anton & Molly:jiggy:
