The WHS Awards Gala Dinner 2023 was an evening of celebration and recognition of the safety successes of Western Australian safety professionals and organisations. Safety professionals and guests from various industries were united to celebrate and network on Saturday 14 October 2023 at The Astral, Crown Perth.

We celebrated achievements and danced the night away at this special event proudly representing Christmas Island Phosphates.

Christmas Island Phosphates WINNERS! of the Managing Directors Award 2023

The Managing Directors of the WHS foundation congratulated and acknowledged CIP for the continuous improvements regarding safety and acknowledging our diverse cultural workforce. 

CIP were nominated and finalist contenders in the following categories:

• Workplace Diversity and Inclusion

• Health and Safety Representative award – Farhan Fadli and Chun Kiat Boong 

Participating and becoming finalists for these awards is a great achievement! Keep up the Great work!

Established in 2017, the WA DEFENCE REVIEW set an important historical precedent by launching the first West Australian-based platform to support Australia’s defence sector across the spectrum of politics, government, defence, industry and academia.

“The Indian Ocean Territories (IOT) join all of the Northern Territory and those parts of Queensland and Western Australia that intersect with the Tropic of Capricorn under the title Northern Australia,” Nick said.

“This initiative means the IOT become eligible for financial assistance under the Northern Australia Development Grants program, providing funding for small to medium enterprises, and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF). Examples of sectors that NAIF could support includes resources, airports, ports and rail, agriculture, water, energy, social infrastructure (including property, tourism, education and health), manufacturing and telecommunications. 

“This inclusion will speed up the delivery of local infrastructure projects which will drive economic activity, create employment opportunities, and attract people to live here and visit this beautiful region.”

The PRL group wishes to thank the Federal Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, the Hon Madeline King and the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and External Territories the Hon Kristy McBain for their hard work and effort in bringing this change to fruition. PRL also recognises the contribution of the previous Assistant Minister, the Hon Nola Marino.

PRL would like to acknowledge the Albanese Government’s commitment to supporting local businesses and communities in the IOT. Through access to the NAIF we can improve local infrastructure and invest in innovative solutions that can help address the regions’ significant challenges. 

PRL also recognises the Christmas Island Business Association for their support and efforts in this great outcome for the IOT.

Further information on Development Grants, NAIF and the Ministers’ statements are available athttps://naif.gov.au/ Infrastructure boost for Indian Ocean Territories | Ministers for the Department of InfrastructureNorthern Australia Development Program – Business Development Grant Opportunity | business.gov.au

All CIMS cleaning staff have been trained to effectively use cleaning and disinfecting products, cleaning equipment, and personal protective equipment in accordance to the Australian Guidelines for Prevention and Infection Control, and CIMS procedures.

To learn more about our capability contact Nick Gan at nicholasg@prlgroup.com.au

“What preceded Christmas Island in 1979 was a dark history, almost a century worth of indentured labour, racial discrimination, even murder — driven by colonial greed.

That same year a British immigrant named Gordon Bennett arrived on the island and it was all to end.

In the years to follow, he would successfully take on former prime minister Bob Hawke, instil workers’ rights, and help abolish the White Australia Policy that was still practised on the island late into the 20th century.

A mere 12 years later, the triumphant union organiser tragically died.

But he was never forgotten.

For many of the generational families that make up the population of Christmas Island, he was the reason why they still call it home.

Bennett died with the legendary status of ‘Tai Ko Seng’, which roughly translates to ‘big brother who delivers’.”

Read the full article on the ABC website

The stories captured on the website aim to communicate the unique nature of the Christmas Island community, the role everyone has played in the Island’s development and their impact on Australia and the South-East Asia region.

There is nowhere else in Australia where Malay, Chinese, Australian and European people live together and celebrate each other’s cultures in harmony.

The Christmas Island Stories website builds upon the work of the Christmas Island Archives, with the stories reflecting the experiences of past and present Christmas Islanders, as well as the role our unique natural environment and local industries have played in the lives of everyone on the Island.

We hope this publicly available collection will help grow the Australian community’s understanding of the Christmas Island story – our past, present and our hopes for a prosperous and harmonious future. We hope these stories help keep the spirit of the Christmas Island community alive for current and future generations.

Visit the Christmas Island Stories website

Equally, we would like to pay our respects to the Chinese Community who in August will celebrate the Hungry Ghost festival. The Hungry Ghost Festival is one of several important festival days of Ghost Month (鬼月) – the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival opens on the 8th of August at the Sheng Wong Temple in Drumsite. The celebration to mark the start of Hungry Ghost is always held at this temple. It is the deity Sheng Wong who opens the gates of hell to allow the souls of those with no families to care for them in the afterlife to wander free for a month. Subsequent events are held at various locations throughout the month, including many within our work areas.

PRL Group finished the year well with Christmas Island Phosphates (CIP) producing a total of 460,000MT, recording an improvement on last year’s 326,000Mt. This was despite the prolonged wet and swell season due to the LA Nina weather event. Both Christmas Island Maintenance Services (CIMS) and Indian Ocean Oil Company (IOOC) performed well throughout the year. It’s also pleasing to see an improvement in our safety statistics over the past year. Our thanks go to all our employees for a great effort and continued focus on safety and meeting customer requirements. This was particularly evident for our CIP employees who faced ongoing production challenges resulting from adverse weather conditions. The outlook for this year looks positive, however, we need to remain cautious with the global COVID situation evolving on a daily basis.

On the 1st of July, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) advised Christmas Island Maintenance Services (CIMS) of its decision to reinstate the operational facilities management services of Serco, at the North West Point Immigration Detention Centre (NWPIDC). The reason given was the alignment of the NWPIDC to their mainland operating model. It was stressed that the change was not related to CIMS’ performance.

Twelve months ago, CIMS was requested by the Department to stand up the NWPIDC to an ‘operational setting’. We have worked hard to build a competent and reliable organisation, investing in training, delivering quality services, and building a local workforce to service the Commonwealth’s operational requirements.

We are disappointed by the news but are continuing to work closely with the Department, Australian Border Force and Serco in the transition process. Our objective is to maximise local jobs and retain the local capability we have built over the past few years.

On a positive note, it is great to see the response from the community towards the COVID vaccination rollout on Christmas Island. With over 70% getting their first vaccination we are up there with the best in Australia, if not the world. Across PRL Group we are very pleased to see the IOOC team setting the standard with a 90% vaccination rate. This could be a bigger race (and more important or not) than the annual Cove Day raft race. We would like to recognise the work of the Minister Hon. Nola Marino, Administrator Natasha Griggs and the Department for Infrastructure, Regional Development and Territories in prioritising this important issue.

Gordon Bennett was a consummate leader, who’s passion and humanity united our community in the fight for equality, during the late 70s and 80s. Through his leadership, we gained significant improvements in living and working conditions on Christmas Island. These were life-changing experiences for us all, which we will never forget.

When the mine closed in 1987, he led the fight to reopen the mine. It was a massive task, bigger than anything we could have imagined, with pitfalls at every step. Thankfully we were ultimately successful and able to create jobs, a successful company, and a future for Islanders. Sadly, Gordon was not able to enjoy that success with his tragic passing on the 30^th of July 1991.

We can all feel proud of our hard-fought achievements in building a strong and diversified business. This fact alone means present and future generations can continue to live on the Island we call home. We also recognise the enormous contribution Gordon Bennett made to achieving that goal. Hopefully, we have gone a long way towards fulfilling Gordon’s vision for Christmas Island.

Today we honour our friend and colleague, a leader and visionary Gordon Bennett. Your work continues to have a lasting impact on those who live on, and who have left the Island. Today our thoughts turn to you, Gordon (Tai Ko Seng), Mark and Tracey Bennett and the Bennett Family.

We are planning a 30th anniversary memorial service for Gordon Bennett on the 30th of September.

More details will be provided closer to the date.

As a first step towards creating an Alumni Association, we worked with the school to plan an event to coincide with Country Week (so CIDHS students could attend) at Optus Stadium to kick off the Alumni. Unfortunately, due to flight delays and the COVID lockdown, CIDHS students and teachers were unable to attend. Our hearts go out to the Country Week CIDHS students who initially had their flight to Perth delayed and then had to deal with the County Week event being cancelled.

Despite these impacts, we decided to proceed with the event and over 30 past students, CIDHS Teachers and PRL staff gathered at Optus Stadium for the inaugural event.

It was fantastic to meet so many past students of the school and recipients of the PRL Bursary and recognition awards in person. Also, present were ex-teachers who still maintain a strong connection to the school and its students. Many fond memories were relived, of the school and life on Christmas Island and a palpable desire was evident to take the Alumni concept forward.

We would like to recognise the great work of Greg Graffin in helping to pull the event together, and the contribution of Ian Francis and the PRL team in making the event such a success, despite the many challenges.