Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill chief executive Barry Fitzgerald has defended the use of foreign workers on mining projects and claimed they're an important "risk management" strategy.
PerthNow reports Fitzgerald said foreign workers were necessary and Hancock Prospecting was already "clearly on the record saying we need to bring in cheap overseas labour".
Fitzgerald also said debate over overseas labour in the mining industry was a hot topic because most people knew personally of jobseekers that had attempted to work in the sector.
Fairfax Media reports Fitzgerald said overseas investors in the Roy Hill mine had marked the skills shortage as a key liability and using foreign workers was a necessary "de-risking" strategy.
Hancock Prospecting has previously raised concerns about Roy Hill's funding due to delays in part caused by the legal dispute within the Rinehart family.
But Fitzgerald told a Perth audience yesterday the company was still confident it would get funding.
Image: Business Standard