Journey from the Pilbara to the south-west

Jason and Katie Markwell have been part of the Monadelphous family for more than a decade. They have recently made the move from Karratha to WA’s south-west region, where Jason takes on the Project Manager role with the Monadelphous maintenance team at Albemarle. They’ve also embarked on another adventure closer to home, welcoming their second child. Jason tells us more about their next chapter.  

How do you reflect on your career journey so far at Monadelphous and the latest change you have made?   

I joined Monadelphous in 2012 and my first shutdown was at Mt Keith which turned into a six-month stint on the crew out there. It was an old site but an excellent crew and a great initiation into the mining industry for me, after switching over from a shipbuilding career up until then.  From there I did a few shuts around WA and got an opportunity to go to Cape Lambert, which was under mass expansion with Port B construction well under way. 

Cape Lambert clearly had some real potential for growth in the maintenance space and, with an ocean view that was hard to beat, made it something I was keen to get on board with. My wife Katie had been working out in the Goldfields as a HSE Adviser. It didn’t take much convincing to get her interested in joining Monos as an HSE Adviser in Karratha. We headed up to live in Karratha for what became an amazing 10 years of working together to support the Coastal and West Pilbara Operations and taking on all the incredible adventures that the Pilbara has to offer.  

It’s been great to have been so well supported over the years and given the opportunities to grow and develop and move through the leadership ranks from Supervisor through to Area Manager. It wasn’t all smooth sailing with our share of tough times but the Coastal and West Pilbara team and the broader support from the MMNW and Senior Leadership Group has been incredible. We all worked together to build a great business unit, excellent relationships with our clients and deep connections to the communities where we work. For Katie and me, it’s been a great privilege to be a part of that for so long.      

What inspired the move to the south-west?  

The south-west is home for us, it’s where I grew up and it’s where our family and friends have been waiting patiently for us to come home for a long time. While we leave a huge piece of our hearts in the Pilbara, we are excited by the challenges ahead in the south and we are looking forward to raising our young family with our extended families close to us.  

Are you looking forward to/enjoying the fishing in the SW?  

We definitely enjoyed the incredible fishing in the north west with many trips to the Monties (Montebello Islands) and deserted island adventures over the years, but I love and have missed the beautiful ruggedness of the south west and am looking forward to getting back amongst it. I look forward to teaching my little bloke how to surf, fish and get a campfire going on the beach. It’s going to be really fun.  We managed to get a few boat trips in over the Christmas fishing season and even found a few dhuies and crays to get us back in the south west fishing game, which was great.

How is the latest edition to the family going? 

Little Maisie Kay, born on 4 January 2024, has been a great addition to the family, making it two under two there for a little while. It's fair to say it has been a bit hectic, Maisie is just amazing and doing everything you could every want from a now six week old baby. Jordan, her two year old brother, is super proud to be a big brother and takes his duties of looking out for her very seriously. He checks on her regularly, takes teddies to her, reads her stories and loves to report back the strange smells that need attention!    

Katie has recovered really well from the pregnancy and birth and is enjoying her time off with the kids and loving having our friends and family close to help out here and there. I’ve had a lot of people hit me up (especially WFM) and don’t worry, it won’t be long before Katie brings Maisie into the office for cuddles and snuggles! 😊