Serua duo earn certificates, return for Australia stint

Two men from Navutulevu Village in Serua were among 205 workers who received certificates after completing pre-departure briefings for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme on Thursday.

Viliame Maraivalu, 53, is returning to Australia for the fourth time since 2022, while his fellow villager Kafoa George, 29, is preparing for his second stint.

“If you see the rate here in Fiji is different from Australia. We’ve been paid $30 an hour in Australia,” Mr Maraivalu said.

“I have been working in Fiji all of my life and they just paid me $5 an hour.”

The father of four children will be heading to Umbiram, Queensland, for fruit picking work.

“I’m going to learn more things from there. Like fruit picking, pruning, planting,” he said.

Mr Maraivalu’s eldest son is serving in the British Army in England, while three of his children remain in Fiji.

“It’s tough going there when our family is here. I always connect with them through calls, I call them every afternoon,” he said.

Kafoa George

Kafoa George, first joined the scheme in December 2023 and returned to Fiji in August last year.

“Every week, I send money back home to the family,” said Mr George, who has a one-year-and-seven-month-old son and a wife back home.

He makes contact with them, usually after work in the morning, lunch time or during the afternoon break,

During his previous deployment, Mr George gained valuable skills working on Australian farms.

“The experience was good, there were plenty of things we learned in Australia like I learnt how to drive a tractor,” he said.

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