Australia Visa not Required for Gas Pipeline Foreign Workers

Australian work visas are not mandatory for foreign workers building Gorgon-Jansz-lo gas project on two vessels off Western Australia as ruled by the Australian Federal Court.

The section 5(6)(b) of the Australian Migration Act states that a person on board a resources installation is deemed to have entered Australia when the installation is attached to the Australian seabed and, thus, requires an Australian work visa.

Federal Court Justice Neil McKerracher, however, ruled that the Lorelay and Solitaire vessels operated by Switzerland’s Allseas Construction were not “resources installations” as defined in the Australia Migration Act.

Mckerrcher in his decision said that the gas pipeline the workers are building fits the definition of ‘resources installations’ but the workers are not on board the gas pipeline.

“They are ‘on board’ the vessels which, by reason of section 5(13), are not resources installations and therefore not part of the migration zone,” Justice McKerracher said.

Allseas Constructions is building the Gorgon-Jansz-lo gas project at a cost of $43 billion by deploying two vessels Lorelay and Solitaire off Western Australia as subcontractor of  Chevron.

A large number of trade union members protested and blocked the central Perth last November.  They alleged that two companies, Allseas and Chevron, were engaged in unlawful employment of the foreign workers and Australian workers were being ignored.

Contrary to Australia’s Immigration Minister’s argument that court had not jurisdiction and there was no issue to be decided, the judge said there was a genuine matter to be decided and he had the discretion to make declarations.

“which in my view are deliberately specific, narrow and suitably confined in their scope to deal with the precise dispute which has been raised in the proceeding”.

 

Tags: AllSeas, Australia, Australia Federal Court, Australian work visa, Chevron, Foreign Workers, Gas Project, Gas project workers, Gorgon-Jansz-lo gas project, Lorelay, Solitaire, Western Australia, Work visa