Guenter Kath

Story

The Kath Family Ð written by Mrs. Heidrun Kath, wife of Guenter Kath. (Part1 – supplementary notes published separately in Part 2)

Guenter kath arrived in Australia in November 1960, together with his wife Margarete and their five children, Adelheid, Alfred, Bernhard, Thomas, Christian, (aged then 12, 11, 8, 6, 3). With them also came the two youngest of Margarete\’s four children from her first marriage, Horst-Herbert (15) and Heidrun (18), who later became Guenter\’s second wife and mother of his seven younger children.

Disembarking from the migrant ship MS Aurelia in Melbourne, they were sent by train to the migrant camp Bonegilla, where the family celebrated Christmas. Through the help of a migrant who had arrived earlier, Guenter had found work in Canberra\’s building industry, and in January 1961 the family moved into the Ainslie migrant hostel. Margarete and her two older children quickly, too, found work in Canberra. After the family travelled through much of the NSW countryside during weekends, Guenter made a trip to Queensland in autumn, to explore possibilities of life on a farm. He made a down payment on a small farm in Eudlo, near Nambour, and the family moved to Queensland to start life on the farm. But despite quite productive cropping, additionally soon with a simultaneous partnership on a second farm at Thornlands, Guenter was declared bankrupt in 1964. This came as a result of weather and market harzards, as well as the bankruptcy of a factory he had supplied; but partly also because of a lack of experience.

Accepting D.P.I advice, Guenter then moved to the Gympie region, where he Ð first starting afresh as a sharefarmer Ð eventually became one of SE Queensland\’s major horticultural producers, at times also with interest in dairying and the cattle industries. The legendary struggle of the family in the Gympie region Ð first sharefarming at Calico Creek, then in partnership at a Mooloo farm, and since 1968 with its own big farm ‘Wilwarrel\’ at Langshaw Ð became part of local history.

In the early years the main crops were fresh beans and tomatoes, which provided jobs for large numbers of locals as well as itinerant workers and overseas backpackers. In the mid 1970s at Wilwarrel, he expanded into tropical fruit crops, becoming Australia\’s biggest producers of papaws for the fresh food market as well as for processors, and with extensive plantings of Lady Finger bananas.

Time and again natural disasters and collapse of markets, as well as a few family-related ruptures, had caused threatening setbacks for the family company; from which recovery, often later followed by further expansion, was then all the more impressive. Gradually it made Guenter a recognised industry leader, and since 1984 he also became the regional voice for the National Farmers Federation. That led him to various non-party-political public involvements, through which he became quite an influential player on several levels.

Originally Guenter had hoped that his family would stick together and sons would eventually continue to run the family company and its properties as a mutual heritage. But in advancing years he finally had to accept that the sons preferred to pursue their independent lives. Finally in 2002, the family company and its Wilwarrel North subsidiary in Mareeba were liquidated and the properties sold. For a few years Guenter with his wife remained at the Wilwarrel homestead, acting as an adviser for the Gympie property\’s new owner, before they moved to Gympie, their local city for over 4 decades.

Several local friends and admirers, including some media people, had urged Guenter to write the story of his life. Their arguments were:

(1) Having spent by far the longest time of his adult life in this area, his activities had become part of the district\’s history.

(2) His decades-long struggle to establish and to maintain Wilwarrel was typical for many battlers in the Australian bush.

(3) His long involvement in public matters Ð as rural spokesman and as regional face of the National Farmers\’ Federation Ð had affected many people, left some marks on the rural industries and contributed marginally to the regional and national agenda.

(4) His unusual background and the scope of his life and his interests, would make his story interesting even to people he had never personally encountered.

His wife and mother of his seven younger children also urged and convinced him to leave his life\’s story behind for his many descendants.

The result was his book, which was launched on 20th September 2005 at the Gympie Civic Centre : Guenter Kath, Recollections and Reflections Ð The German Australian Wilwarrel Saga.

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