Voelte said a shortage of skilled workers was one of the reasons Australian resources companies were not meeting global production targets.
"The rest of the world is willing to trade professions and jobs a lot more freely than maybe what some of the immigration laws here allow," Voelte told ABC Television.
He said the Federal Government needed to look at relaxing the 457 working visa conditions, especially regarding the length of time a worker can be in the country and the amount of sponsorship that companies could provide.
He said the effect this would have on the domestic workforce needed to be discussed.
"Clearly this has to be discussed to make sure that there is not a negative impact to the Australian workers on wages and the amount of work hours that they want to work," Voelte said.
