Maritime Union of Australia petition against cheap foreign labour for Australian jobs

This petition doesn't explain that "workers in every other country" are generally not prevented from working on their "own" offshore construction vessels by another country's unions. The MUA seems intent on depriving its foreign comrades of work in this internationally mobile offshore working environment. There are many types of shipping in Australian waters. These include domestic shipping, international shipping, cruise ships and offshore construction ships hired to perform work related to construction, drilling and other maintenance of Australian offshore oil and gas fields on an ad hoc basis. This petition is dealing with the latter. Foreign workers who might normally form an integral part of an offshore construction ship's working team anywhere else except Australia don't necessarily qualify for residence in Australia based on their temporary work in Australian waters; so they don't necessarily contribute to the permanent glut caused by mass migration of relatively wealthy people (by world standards) into Australia. Over 80% of Australia's migrant intake is NOT "starving refugees". Foreign construction vessels typically comprise marine crew and construction crew (riggers, fitters, welders, etc). The MUA benefits from imposing the requirement to break up these crews when they enter Australian waters by imposing its own construction crews on the vessels' management. This practice can expose foreign construction vessels to unpredictable cost and schedule risk in Australia. The offshore industry generally has high safety standards. Displacing foreign crews with Australian crews does not necessarily improve safety. It could do the opposite if the Australian crews need to go through a learning curve that the displaced crews have already completed. Saying "Abbott has used secrecy, force and deception to stop starving refugees desperate to come to Australia for a better life but has opened the door for employers to fly in foreign workers to take our jobs." is arguably misleading. Does this petition seek to depict MUA members as having their human rights violated as if they are "starving refugees"? The real issue here is not the small number of construction crew on foreign construction vessels that temporarily enter Australia; it is the mass migration of relatively wealthy opportunists who have a net negative impact on Australia's economy, thereby limiting the philanthropic foreign aid that Australia can provide to the desperately poor who do not receive sufficient help in their homelands. Many of those desperately poor are dying from preventable disease and malnutrition/starvation. Foreign construction vessels entering Australia to perform essential services may be an exception that should reasonably be allowed to choose their own crews on safety grounds alone. Imagine a situation where a foreign surgeon visits Australia to perform an operation that no Australian can perform. He wants to bring his anaesthetist with him, but because the operation is being performed on an offshore construction ship only anaesthetists who are MUA members are allowed to perform the work. So the surgeon has to work with someone he has not personally chosen for the work. Imagine if all foreign construction vessels boycotted Australia because of this MUA restriction. Necessity would then defend foreign construction vessel rights to make their own hiring decisions without the interference of the MUA. Without the ability of these foreign construction vessels to enter and leave Australia when required, Australia's offshore industry would be severely disabled. Many believe that it is currently being disabled by the MUA.