Proserpine cane supply manager Tony Marino has retired after four decades in the sugar milling industry.
Beginning his career as a graduate cane inspector in 1981, Mr Marino has since worked across seven Queensland sugar mills.
Mr Marino said his career kick started after graduating from university in Gatton.
"At the time, CSR was recruiting university graduates and I had just finished a Bachelor of Business in Rural Management at Gatton," he said.
"Because of the demand for cane inspectors, I was able to gain valuable experience and move up the ranks fairly quickly."
Mr Marino worked at several different mills across the state with later roles spent in cane supply manager positions, including nine years at Plane Creek mill and the last five years at Proserpine mill.
"I first started at CSR's Goondi mill near Innisfail, which included a brief period at Hambledon mill just outside Cairns, not far from where I spent my childhood on the family farm," he said.
"Both of those mills have since shut down.
"Over the years, I've worked in all of Wilmar Sugar's milling regions, Townsville head office, and most of its mills.
I've spent time at Victoria and Macknade mills in the Herbert, Invicta in the Burdekin, Plane Creek mill at Sarina and more recently Proserpine mill."
Mr Marino said he was part of a multi-generational sugar industry family.
"My grandfather started working in the sugar industry in the 1920s on a farm at Fishery Falls near Gordonvale, my father continued on his legacy and my son and I both ended up working for Wilmar Sugar - me as a cane supply manager and David as the assistant production superintendent at Inkerman mill in the Burdekin," he said.
Mr Marino said he enjoyed the stability and diversity that came with working at Wilmar Sugar, which enabled him to make some great friends over the past four decades.
"It's the people that make the mill," he said.
"I have stayed with the company for over 40-years. Not many people get the opportunity to work somewhere for so long."
Mr Marino passed the torch on to Jed Page, who made the move south from Tully to become the new cane supply manager for Wilmar Sugar's Proserpine mill.
Mr Page has a background as a logistics officer at Tully sugar mill.
"It's been a good and fun challenge to take on this role," he said.
"I spent five weeks working closely with Tony as we transitioned over, which has been a great start to the job, and I am at the point now where everything is really starting to click.
"I'm looking forward to working closely with the cane supply team, local growers and harvesting contractors to get the 2022 sugarcane crop off the ground."
Zoe Thomas
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
Northern based journalist at North Queensland Register and Queensland Country Life.
