PALM worker John returns to Tulagi after four years in Australia, using his earnings to build a home and start businesses.
After four years working at Greenhams in Tongala, Victoria, through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, John is seeing the results of his hard work transform not only his family’s future, but also the future of his community.
Starting in 2022, the Tulagi based father said he wanted to work on the PALM scheme to earn enough money to set up reliable income streams to support his family in the future.
“Before the PALM scheme, I didn’t have a formal job, I was a boat driver for other people, so I understood the business side of it.
“When I had the privilege of working in Australia, I put it in my head that I need to get myself a boat so when I go back, (so) I can be my own boss,” said John.
John is now back in Tulagi, where he has completed a three-bedroom house and canteen, bought his dream boat, and started a transport business serving local residents.
The canteen is a self-sufficient business, after the initial cost of building and purchasing stock, the store makes enough money to restock each week as well as provide profit for the family.
John runs the boat business while his wife is in charge of the canteen, and between them, they make enough money to support their whole family, especially their elderly parents.
“I can help pay school fees for my sisters’ children, help my mum and dad with their needs now they are in their old age, and I donate at church too.
“Not only my family benefits, so do the people I buy timber and supplies from, and the builders I pay. The more I do, they more they benefit as well,” John said.
Around Tulagi there has been an increase in building, with many new houses and businesses. John said most of them are built using earnings from the PALM scheme.
“If you walk around Tulagi, most of the changes and new buildings you see are from seasonal workers. It’s the seasonal workers changing the face of Tulagi.”
John says he wants to remind others working on the PALM scheme is a chance to achieve dreams.
“My advice to other PALM scheme workers is just stay focused on your aim and goals back home, don’t go and just play around. Go and achieve your dreams.
“How my family see me now, they are proud. Before we struggled but now because of the boat and the canteen, they’ll all proud and happy with what I’ve done,” said John with a smile.
To learn more about the PALM scheme, visit PALM scheme.gov.au.
By :Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme
