by Nick Rowe
A group of men from Vanuatu are behind the recent success of a local agriculture contracting business while at the same time providing for their families back home.

LabAg, a Labertouche business owned by Ian and Janelle Box, credit recent success in their business to the injection of this new workforce from the small, Pacific Island country.
More accustomed to working in the tourism or construction industries in Vanuatu, the workers have become vital assets for LabAg.
Lab Ag's Vanuatuan experiment began almost three years ago not long after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Like many businesses at the time, the company was struggling to attract and retain a consistent workforce with labour shortages leaving Ian pondering how much longer he could keep the business going.
A holiday with Janelle to Vanuatu a couple of years earlier and some interaction with Vanuatuan locals at the time later sparked an idea.
While travelling and meeting with locals on their trip, Ian identified a potential opportunity to reach further afield and attract a whole new workforce.
"We met with a couple of guys and asked whether they might be interested in working in Australia," Ian said. "I knew that other farms and ag businesses had done this in the past under a government scheme and when we started to struggle to find local employees I thought it was maybe worth a shot."
So - not long after - Paul Bakeo and Junior Usamoli became LabAg's first Pacific Island employees and the rest has been a very successful history. Today, LabAg employs 13 men from Vanuatu - from their 20s to 40s.
The men live at houses on the Labertouche farm and another at the Box's Athlone property. It is clear when they are all together that the arrangement has been a win-win for them and for Ian and Janelle.
"It's been one of the best things we have done as a business. In the space of a year we had a dozen of the guys working with us and their attitude and eagerness to learn has done wonders for the culture of the place. They have become like family really."
It is apparent in the way the team interacts with Ian and Janelle that the arrangement has been a positive for them as well, with much laughter and banter shared.
When asked why he keeps coming back to work for LabAg each year, Junior says "It is like a family for us too. We have been treated very well by Ian and Janelle."
This notion of family is emphasised by the fact the group, plus Ian and Janelle, all travelled to Vanuatu this month to mark the one year anniversary of the death of Junior and his brother Henry's father.
Ian and Janelle flew Mr Usamali out to Australia for important surgery more than a year ago but during his visit he died in hospital.
Lab Ag's international workforce, like some other agriculture enterprises in the area, are able to work due to a government labour scheme negotiated with nations across the Pacific and in Timor-Leste. The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from these countries where there are not enough eligible local employees. Through the scheme, workers can be recruited for short and long term roles and can stay up to nine months at a time.
The PALM scheme is intended to help fill labour gaps in rural and regional Australia and nationally for agriculture and agriculture related food manufacturing by offering employers access to a pool of reliable workers. On the flipside, the arrangement allows the workers to be paid Australian award wages, develop their skills and send much needed income home to their families.
The crew of workers at LabAg work for varying periods of time within the nine month period and then return home for a period.
While the men make the sacrifice of not seeing family and friends for extended periods, the wages they earn and the skills they learn are incredibly valuable to them and their families. The men can make up to 10 times what they would earn in Vanuatu and at the same time are able to learn how to operate heavy machinery such as tractors, balers, excavators and other farm and earthmoving machinery - improving their future employment options at home.
Some of Lab Ag's Vanuatuan employees have been able to buy property or pay off their mortgages during their Australian stints while others send money back to their families to provide them with a better standard of living.
Junior said, "There is not as much opportunity in Vanuatu to work and earn a good wage. The chance to come to Australia and work has been good for our families."
The family theme has gone even further recently. Stephen and Harry's partners have had babies in Vanuatu in recent months who they will meet for the first time while home this month. Stephen's son is named Ian and Harry has a new daughter named Janelle.
The Box's were very much looking forward to meeting their namesakes during their trip.