Tongan Acting High Commissioner visits Katanning and Manjimup to discuss PALM seasonal work program

The Tongan Acting High Commissioner has visited the small Great Southern town of Katanning for a chat about filling its labour gaps. Curtis Leonard Tu’Ihalangingie and his delegation were in the Great Southern on Tuesday to discuss the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, which provides Pacific Islanders with seasonal work. Under the scheme, eligible businesses struggling to find local workers can recruit people from nine Pacific islands, of which Tonga is one, and Timor-Leste. Katanning officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Dave Rudd welcomed Mr Tu’Ihalangingie, exchanging pleasantries with him in Kiribati. “My wife is from the island, so I speak a little Kiribati and was able to greet him,” he said. Sen. Sgt Rudd said there were many Tongans in Katanning, most of whom worked at the WAMMCO meatworks. “I joked with the delegation that I only ever see their guys at church or at the supermarket,” Sen. Sgt Rudd said. “They are absolutely no trouble at all.” The delegation also visited Manjimup, where they met shire president Donelle Buegge and chief executive officer Ben Rose.