Elliot McNamara - Walga Mining and Services
Elliot McNamara, 2016 EBA Finalist in the Indigenous in Business category with Mr. Joseph Assaf AO
The Ethnic Business Awards are Australia’s longest running and most prestigious business awards program. For three decades these awards have highlighted the myriad of benefits that cultural diversity and multiculturism brings to our nation, including the rich heritage of our First Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Joseph Assaf, the founder of this incredible foundation, is a migrant himself. He has been dubbed the “father of multiculturism” and has been applauded and lauded for his work and the recognition he has brought to the achievements of migrant and Indigenous business communities in Australia.
Each year the Ethnic Business Awards shine a light on the stories of inspiration of our finalists. Here is the story of one such person, Elliot McNamara of Walga Mining and Services.
The EBA was honoured to announce as a finalist, Mr. Elliot McNamara in the prestigious ‘Indigenous in Business’ category award at the 2016 annual award ceremony held in Melbourne. Elliot is the owner and founder of Walga Mining and Services. He is a proud member of the Barngarla community.
Growing up, Elliot did not have a ton of Aboriginal businesses to look up to. He always had a desire to succeed in business, there just were not that many successful Aboriginal owned and operated businesses during that time, especially in the for-profit sector. With the growth of the mining industry, he saw an increase in businesses using land owned by Aboriginal people by paying them royalties, but never understood how these royalties were benefitting the growth and prosperity of the Aboriginal people.
This one observation led to Elliot wanting to create a business that was not just successful in what it did, but one that would give back to his community directly as well as by investing in the sustainability and growth of local Aboriginal businesses. It was not easy to succeed as someone with Aboriginal heritage back in the day, but that only made Elliot work harder. He remembers his father’s words, “nobody owes us anything and we have to make our own future.”
By 2005, Elliot decided that he needed to get into the mining industry and claim back all the wealth that was being made on aboriginal land that wasn’t benefitting them at all. Originally, the company started with just 5 casual employees. Now, it employs over 100 full-time and part-time employees.
The reason for Walga Mining and Services growth, Elliot said was the, “Support of the Barngarla community in addition to the quality employees that work for Walga who believe in Walga’s vision and want to be a part of our journey have helped Walga become successful. In believing we are creating a unique business that empowers not only aboriginal people but the local Whyalla region. Creating a business that employees feel a part of, that practices good communication and actively invests in the success of all its employees through training and upskilling.”
When asked about his vision for the company, Elliot said, “I envision Walga mining becoming a benchmark business that sets the bar for what an Aboriginal owned and run business can achieve. To have numerous operations Australia wide, that invests in retaining quality employees and future aboriginal businesses and employees. Through maintaining competitive and viable pricing in the market, sustained through implementation of strong strategic systems and processes will enable Walga to become a strong reputable contender in the mining sector and business. To attain this vision for Walga, as a growing business that experienced fast rapid growth Walga is currently taking steps toward implementing key strategic systems and processes to ensure we remain a viable business and reach our future goals to become the best business we can be.”
Every year we seek out similarly inspirational stories. Sometimes the business is in its infancy, so we recommend they track along for a few years before they begin the nomination process. There is zero cost involved in nominating and we are always happy when nominees try to be selected for consecutive years. The EBA is only able to bring twelve fantastic stories each year to the stage, so my advice to you is to never give up. We have many examples of finalists who were only successful after trying for a couple of years to be selected. The most important thing is that we hear these stories. And through our media partners we can beam them into the lounge rooms of Australians everywhere. In fact, they go all over the world as last year we pioneered a Facebook live broadcast, and it was seen by 70,000 + viewers. This just shows there is a huge appetite for true stories of excellence.
