Bigger transport effort for Waste to Wages in WA

Cargo and transport grow for Initiative backing indigenous social support

Western Australia’s Waste to Wages indigenous-support effort has made progress and another, larger, transport run.

Backed by a swathe of transport industry, business, indigenous, social and political interests, Waste to Wages saw its efforts boosted last year, with a prime mover shifting pre-loved and unwanted furniture from Perth to Kununurra.

There it was repaired by jobseekers employed under the indigenous-run recycling initiative, Revive, established in mid-2017 by East Kimberley Job Pathways (EKJP), owned in partnership by Wunan Aboriginal Corporation and the Kununurra Region Economic Aboriginal Corporation.

Shadow assistant minister for road safety and Labor senator for WA Glenn Sterle was involved in the transport and last year’s effort also gained impetus from state transport body Western Roads Federation (WRF) CEO Cam Dumesny, furniture removalist Keys – The Moving Solution, and port operator ACFS Port Logistics.

Read how Sterle and others threw their support behind WTW last year, here

According to his office, Sterle was informed by Paige McLachlan, the site manager at Revive in Kununurra, that stock delivered last October had been sold and he had asked if another run was warranted.

Informed in the affirmative, the call went out again for suitable recyclables with the response resulting in a larger amount of stock.

“Early last month, we made 46 collections from residents across Perth and filled four sea containers which Glenn delivered last week in a convoy of trucks made up of two road trains with five trailers between them,” a Sterle spokesman tells ATN.

“Glenn’s partners on this year’s trip were: Keys – The Moving Solution, Western Roads Federation, ACFS Port Logistics, North West Quarries, Skippers Transport, Centurion Transport, Ocean Beach Hotel, East Kimberley Job Pathways, Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre, Wunan Foundation, Marra Worra Worra Aboriginal Corporation and the City of Canning.

“We were also pleased to announce this year that Glenn partnered with Don Bantock, the owner of Bedshed in Osborne Park. Don donated more than 100 brand new mattresses that were delivered by Glenn to Fitzroy Crossing and surrounding areas. There is a severe shortage of beds in the area at the moment so this donation will make a huge difference to local communities and families.

“Glenn departed Perth last Monday morning and pulled into Kununurra on Thursday afternoon.

“We began unloading on Thursday and finished unloading the remainder of the containers on Friday with Glenn’s support crew who followed him from Perth and Paige’s team at Revive.

“The convoy pulled out from Kununurra yesterday morning and headed to Halls Creek to make another furniture drop for families there and aim to be back in Perth before the end of this week.”

With a plethora of difficulties besetting the trucking industry in this Covid-disrupted country at present, those involved view the latest convoy as something of a much-needed antidote to all the negativity.

Photography: Ben Wholagan