A CAIRNS businesswoman has won the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award for Queensland, acknowledging the success of her business, Little Tuna.
Kate Lamason, who owns Little Tuna with her husband Rowan, will receive a $15,000 Westpac grant and will represent Queensland at the national awards in September, where she will be in the running to win an additional $20,000 Westpac grant. Westpac has been a platinum sponsor of the Rural Women’s Awards for over 15 years.
The entrepreneur was one of four finalists who were selected for their contributions to rural industries, businesses, and communities.
The AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award recognises women who want to create impact, innovate, make a difference, and contribute to enhancing the prosperity of Australian rural industries – namely agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
The grant can be used for training in business management and leadership, overseas study, developing educational or promotional campaigns, testing information technology initiatives, developing and testing new concepts, publishing books, and more.
Ms Lamason, who is a graduate of the National Seafood Industry Leadership Program (NSILP) and a board director for Tuna Australia, started Little Tuna seven years ago and also owns Cairns Little Seafood Market in Cairns.
“This award is not just a win for me, but a win for our entire team and the Australian wild-caught fishing industry,” she said.
We started Little Tuna 7 years ago with the simple goal of being able to feed our family quality Australian sustainably caught tuna
Little Tuna co-founder Kate Lamason
“Now we have created a product showcasing our wild-caught tuna, so all Aussies can once again eat Australian tuna.”
According to Ms Lamason, the Marine Stewardship Council announced in 2023 that 72 per cent of Australians eat tuna, or approximately 14.4 million adult Australians.
“Aussies consume 336 million cans of tuna per year, which is around 50,000 tonnes,” Ms Lamason said.
“But not a single one of those tins on our supermarket shelves is Australian – our Australian fishers remain underrepresented on supermarket shelves.
Little Tuna is on a mission to change this, because they feel Australians need to be able to eat Australian tuna.
“Our tuna is 100 per cent Aussie caught, owned, and made, and supports our Australian fishers who use sustainable fishing methods to supply us with wild line-caught tuna.”
State and territory winners of the AgriFuture Rural Women’s Award will participate in a three-day workshop and National Selection Panel interviews this July before the 2024 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Gala Dinner and National Announcement takes place in September.
The other finalists for Queensland were Burdekin senior secondary agricultural science teacher Louise Nicholas, Aussie Helpers CEO Natasha Kocks from Gladstone and Gloriously Free (GF) oats founder Kylie Hollonds.
Queensland’s new state sponsor, the Queensland Country Women’s Association, will provide a $2,000 grant to Queensland’s finalists.
Finalists also gain access to professional development opportunities and alumni networks with AgriFutures.
In addition to the Rural Women’s Awards, AgriFutures Australia offer the Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant as a leadership and development opportunity for rural women who feel their projects or ventures are not yet ready for the award.
The Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant provides a bursary of up to $7,000 for professional development, driving innovation in rural industries, businesses, and communities.
Ms Lamason’s businesses continue to go from strength to strength, with Little Tuna currently a finalist in the QSMA Queensland Seafood Industry Association Awards 2024, to be announced 15 March.
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