Pacific Islanders rescue Katanning processing plant by making the Great Southern their home away from home

Leaving family and country in the hope of making a living in the midst of a global pandemic was the difficult decision made by 86 Pacific Islanders who now live and work in Katanning. Katanning’s WA Meat Marketing Co-operative processing plant has welcomed the men into the Great Southern region with open arms. The region will be their home for the next three years until their visas run out. Kemueli Khan, 33, was one of the 26 Fijians who most recently came to Katanning in March. Mr Khan worked as a hygiene manager in Fiji at various holiday resorts, but struggled to find work after COVID-19 devastated Fiji’s tourism sector. He made the tough decision to come to Katanning in a bid to financially support his family of nine back in Fiji, who are all now out of work due to lockdowns. “Everything in Fiji is shut down, so working from here and having the money to send back to my family is a blessing in disguise,” he said. Other workers, such as 27-year-old Tongan Paula Takelo, have been in the region since November 2019, when the Federal Government’s Pacific Labour Scheme first came into effect. Mr Takelo, pictured below, was born and raised in a family with little money and worked on farms in Tonga throughout his childhood. He worked as a mechanic and a plumber in his 20s but decided to leave his home country in pursuit of his dream of owning a home for his family. “This isn’t the first time I have had to leave family behind, but it can be really tough at times,” he said. “But I have goals for myself and I had to leave to pursue them — I will go back to them.” After 14 months working at the WAMMCO plant, Mr Takelo was able to buy the plot of land he desired with the money he had saved from working in WA. While workers like Mr Takelo and Mr Khan now have the financial stability they were searching for, Mr Khan said the move to Australia was initially “very hard” for him and his family. “By the time I come to work, it is already lunchtime there. When I knock off work, it’s already night time and I don’t want to keep them up,” he said. “We have adjusted, but it has been hard separated from them, but time heals.” The Pacific Labour Scheme offers three-year visas to people in the Pacific Islands who are willing to work in Australia, but not to their families. Mr Khan said the Katanning community had been more than welcoming to him and his co-workers as they adapted to life in the region. “The people here are very charming, beautiful and their hospitality has been great,” he said. “Socially, I think Katanning is the best, as even though it is far from the city, that is what we prefer because it is laid-back, just like home.” Both Mr Khan and Mr Takelo play touch rugby and scratch soccer matches on Fridays at Katanning Leisure Centre with their co-workers. Shire of Katanning deputy president John Goodheart said the community had a strong commitment to multiculturalism and wanted to ensure the workers felt welcome in the “melting pot that is Katanning.” “We want to make them feel like they are no different to anyone else in the town,” Mr Goodheart said. “We have a strong history of embracing people from all countries and backgrounds ... we epitomise that with the harmony festival,” he said. The Pacific Labour Scheme is co-ordinated by the Food Industry People Group and its Katanning on-site manager, Wagin’s Ron Meier. FIP Group WA operations manager Jennifer Tweedie said the group oversaw the recruitment, visas, transport, quarantine and accommodation of the workers, among other things. “WAMMCO and FIP Group work in partnership to ensure that the labour requirements of the business are met and we work together to ensure the workers are able to fulfil their goals and support their families back home,” she said. WAMMCO chief executive Coll MacRury said there was no doubt Katanning’s sheep processing plant would have closed years ago without the aid of visa workers from islands in the Indian and Pacific ocean regions. “Citizens from many countries have kept this plant operational since it opened in 1974 — and WAMMCO continues to thrive under a new visa contract between Australia and young workers from the South Pacific region,” he said. “Australia’s labour shortage was threatening to become terminal for WAMMCO several years ago before we were offered the first Pacific Islander workers under a limited visa system. “It has not only lifted the physical and numerical strength of the WAMMCO workforce, it has also offered new talent to strengthen our local community. “In exchange, our new workers can tap new financial and career security with the bonus of working for one of the world’s most successful lamb producer co-operatives.”