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$10m to develop Queensland gas workers

Government and industry to plug skills shortages

The Queensland Government and the state’s coal seam gas and liquefied natural gas industries have joined forces to create a $10 million training program to supply the thousands of workers needed for the boom resources.

Premier Anna Bligh said the program would cater for the up to 18,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“If Queenslanders are to see the full benefits of the opportunities this new industry will create we need to make sure they can develop the skills they need to harness the boom,” she said.

“The eight proposed CSG-LNG projects under consideration across the state will generate unprecedented demand for workers with specific technical skills.

“It’s essential that our training system is geared to meet industry demand – that’s why we’re developing this program hand in hand with industry.”

Ms Bligh said the government’s initial investment of $5 million would fund the program over two years and companies within the industry will match the government’s contribution dollar for dollar when they access training through the program.

“The focus of the CSG-LNG Industry Training Program will be on up-skilling present mining industry workers and equipping newcomers with the required skills.

“For example, there are significant skill shortages for technicians in the areas of drilling, production, maintenance, electrical, instrumentation and logistics."

Education and Training Minister Geoff Wilson said it was essential that government and industry working together in the new sector.

“The government is working hard to manage the growth of this industry through programs such as this, and the Surat Basin Future Directions Statement which was released this week," he said.

Mr Wilson said Government body Energy Skills Queensland and industry had already created the CSG/LNG Workforce Development Plan which will be used to indentify where skills are needed.

“This identifies 7,000 skilled positions that will need to be filled over the next 25 years, and another 7000 to be created during the construction phase," he said.

“The geographic spread of potential CSG/LNG sites means that jobs will be available from locations west of Toowoomba as far north as Townsville, with opportunities to either live in rural ‘tree change’ locations or to fly in, fly out from coastal centres."

Energy Skills Queensland chief executive officer Glenn Porter said the unique nature of the CSG/LNG industry meant anyone interested in a career in the industry would need to start acquiring the right skills as soon as possible.

“The extraction of coal seam gas is a cleaner process than coal which produces a cleaner fuel, and it’s relatively new technology,” said Mr Porter.

“That means we need to start finding people who want to work as process operations technicians, drilling technicians, engineers and a host of other occupations in career opportunities that are about to start appearing across Queensland.”