SWEET SUCCESS

Mackay Sugar’s Awesome Foursome Celebrate 50-Years

July is filled with nostalgia for three Mackay Sugar employees who are this month celebrating 50 years since they started with the company.

Commencing employment in 1973, the three men – Allan, David and Rodney – join fellow employee Phillip, who started at Mackay Sugar in 1971, in achieving the remarkable milestone.

“This is an incredibly unique story about the longevity, dedication and passion of four local Mackay residents who have committed their entire working lives to the sugar industry,” said Mackay Sugar General Manager People & Culture, Carissa Mansfield.

“Seeing an employee reach a 50-year milestone in any organisation is unique in itself, let alone four people in the one company, and three of them in the same month,” she said.

“These employees have seen so much change, resilience and growth during their careers at Mackay Sugar, not just within the industry but across the region,” explained Mrs Mansfield.

Phillip commenced his career at Mackay Sugar as a cane inspector and in the stores at Marian Mill on 29 December 1971 when he was 18 years of age. Phillip later went on to start a fitting and turning apprenticeship in 1972 and has been working as a fitter ever since, currently maintaining our locomotive fleet.

Allan was only 15 years old when his career in sugar began, starting work on the weighbridge and as an uncoupler at the historical Cattle Creek Mill on 11 July 1973. Over the years, Allan also completed a variety of roles during the slack season, including cane measuring and mapping, and he now works at Marian Mill as a Weighbridge Clerk.

David, who is currently on well-deserved long service leave from his role as Assistant Boiler Operator at Racecourse Mill, joined the company as a “Lab Boy” on 16 July 1973 when he was 17 years old, tasked with collecting samples from inside the mill and running them to the lab for the sugar chemists to test.

Rodney started as a Laboratory Assistant at Marian Mill on 20 July 1973 at just 15 years of age before progressing through various production roles, completing an adult apprenticeship, and is now holding the position of Shift Supervisor and Boiler Area Supervisor at Farleigh Mill.

Rod’s three sons have followed in his footsteps and now work at Mackay Sugar in various trade roles.

Several significant events have taken place in and around Mackay during the 50 years that these men have worked at Mackay Sugar, including the opening of Canelands Central (1979), the start-up of the then-largest coal terminal in the world at Dalrymple Bay (1984) and the opening of the sugar refinery at Racecourse Mill (1994) as well as more than a dozen cyclones and several major flood events.

During that time Mackay Sugar has also gone through significant change, including moving from a co-operative to an incorporated company in 1986, closing North Eaton Mill (1988), Cattle Creek Mill (1990) and Pleystowe Mill (2008) and then securing one of the world’s leading producers of sugar, Nordzucker Group, as Mackay Sugar’s major shareholder in 2019.

“Mackay Sugar is as much a part of the local landscape as we are a part of the community, and nothing highlights this more than seeing four employees choose to spend their entire working careers in our business,” said Mrs Mansfield.

In addition to the half-century long careers this year, Mackay Sugar is home to a further 46 employees who have greater than 30-years’ service with the company.

“We’re very proud to be such an important part of our region's history, and its future, and we look forward to seeing many more of our employees enjoying long-term careers in our business,” said Mrs Mansfield.

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Allan Moule, Marian Weighbridge Clerk

David Ebner, Assistance Boiler Operator

Rodney Wallin - Farleigh Shift Supervisor

Troy, Rod and Michael Wallin - Farleigh Mill