Tellus’ strength is our people, and we draw our people from far and wide.
Few have a more interesting story to tell than Pascoe Murison, our Executive General Manager, Operations.
Pascoe came to Perth from apartheid South Africa with his family in 1988, aged 14.
“My folks wanted a better life for myself and my siblings and better opportunities for us than they had in South Africa,” he says.
“Our group was the ‘coloureds.’ We were better than the folks beneath us, but not as good as those above.”
Apartheid infected every aspect of life: housing, education, even life on the beach.
“We could attend only the rockier beaches,” he remembers.
Incredibly, the first time Pascoe’s parents were allowed to vote was in their adopted country.
In terms of opportunity, Australia delivered, just as it has for millions of other newcomers.
With a Bachelor of Applied Science from Curtin University, majoring in Chemistry, Pascoe has spent the past 20 years working across a range of waste management roles in Perth, joining Tellus in 2018. His current role encompasses all aspects of operations at our Sandy Ridge facility in the WA Goldfields.
What brought him to hazardous waste management, and specifically to Tellus? More than anything, it was temperament.
“Quite simply, there’s a right way and a wrong way—and I like doing things the right way.
“Before Sandy Ridge existed there was no option but for certain wastes to be disposed of at the facilities available. Concessions had to be made, where certain wastes had to be diluted to meet acceptance criteria.
“Now that Sandy Ridge is available, that’s no longer required.”
One thing Pascoe didn’t leave behind him in South Africa was a boyhood interest in pigeons. It was reignited during COVID, and he now has around 60 birds that he races in competition up and down the WA coast—sometimes as far as 1000km.
But with everything he sees ahead for Tellus, he is unlikely to have much time for hobbies in the near term.
“It seems like we are merely scratching the surface with Sandy Ridge,” he says.
“I honestly believe what Tellus offers is a national and international solution to the permanent isolation of hazardous materials. It’s very exciting.”
