ORGANISERS of the annual Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety (QMIHS) Conference today announced that the 2021 event, scheduled to start on August 22, will be postponed.

The four-day, sold-out QMIHS Conference was to be held at The Star Gold Coast, with more than 600 delegates expected to attend.

Conference committee chair, Glencore’s director for underground operations, Darren Nicholls, said the organisers were taking a precautionary approach.

“The resources sector has worked hard to protect our industry and Queensland’s regional communities since the pandemic began last year and we’re very pleased to note that so far we’ve not had a single case of COVID-19 transmission at a Queensland operation,” Mr Nicholls said.

“But we must continue to be vigilant. Given the logistical challenges of putting together an event of this size in the current landscape and taking on board the latest advice from health authorities, our organising committee has put caution before conference and postponed the event.

“It is regrettable, but we will now focus on developing the 2022 conference, which will again be held at The Star from August 21 through to August 24 using the same theme of 'Together We Collaborate, Innovate and Educate'," he said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors, presenters, exhibitors and conference attendees for their understanding and their enduring support of the conference and we look forward to welcoming them in 2022.”

The QMIHS conference has been held annually since 1989 to exchange information, provide networking opportunities and foster proactive health and safety management.

Further updates on the 2022 conference can be accessed through the conference website, Facebook page and the LinkedIn page.

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THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy will on Wednesday hold a public hearing for its inquiry into the current circumstances, and the future need and potential for dispatchable energy generation and storage capability in Australia.  

Representatives from CSIRO will appear before the committee to discuss Australia’s current and future energy mix, specific dispatchable energy technologies and future frameworks that need to be considered to ensure Australia’s energy system is equipped for the future.

Committee Chair Ted O’Brien MP said, "The CSIRO is Australia’s preeminent science agency and will provide the committee with an insight into how Australia’s energy sector, combined with scientific technologies, can catalyse energy transition towards improved dispatchable energy generation and greater storage capability.

“CSIRO will be able to bring to the Committee valuable insight from their scientific research in this area,” Mr O’Brien said.

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 11 August 2021
Time: 10.15am to 11.15am
Location: via videoconference

Program

10.15am – 11.15am: CSIRO

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, committee proceedings held in Parliament House are not currently open to the public. The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Northern Territory Seafood Council, which represents seafood operators across the aquaculture, wild catch and trader/processing sectors, and Seafarms, the organisation behind Project Sea Dragon, a large-scale staged development of prawn production ponds across Northern Australia, will give valuable evidence this week to a parliamentary committee inquiry into aquaculture.

The House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee will be holding the public hearing as part of its current inquiry into Australia’s aquaculture sector. 

The Committee Chair, Rick Wilson MP said, "This hearing will round out evidence from aquaculture stakeholders in the Northern Territory received during a public hearing and site visits in Darwin in July.

"The committee has seen first-hand the significant aquaculture work being undertaken in the Northern Territory. We look forward to hearing further perspectives about current challenges and new opportunities for aquaculture in the Territory, and how the government can help address barriers being faced by operators."

For further information, visit the inquiry website.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday, 12 August 2021
Time: 10.10am to 11:10am AEST

A live audio stream of the hearing will be accessible at: www.aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Migration today presented the final report for its inquiry into Australia’s skilled migration program.

Committee Chair Julian Leeser MP said, “Over 500,000 temporary migrants have left Australia since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the lack of skilled migrants coupled with record low unemployment has led to major skill shortages in many sectors of the Australian economy.

“The government has implemented many of the recommendations the Committee made in Interim report in relation to skills shortages in the economy and their impact on the viability of businesses and their ability to create more jobs for Australians,” Mr Leeser said.

“In this report, the committee has made recommendations addressing a range of issues including a whole of government approach to address skills shortages, providing clearer pathways to permanency to and enabling the best and brightest international students to come and stay here to help us fill persistent skills shortages.

“The report also recommends a number of measures aimed at cleaning up and streamlining the skilled migration system, including consolidating the skills lists, replacing ANZSCO, providing more concessions for regional visas, improving customer service from Home Affairs and streamlining Labour Market Testing and the Skilling Australia Fund,” said Mr Leeser.

A copy of the report and more details about the inquiry are available on the committee website.

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