Mareeba, Queensland: Small Aussie town on the brink as migrant fruit picker is ... trends now
A fruit picker from Vanuatu living in Australia on a foreign worker's visa has been charged with raping a teenage girl in tropical Far North Queensland.
Claude Kalo allegedly raped the girl at Mareeba, a town with a population of approximately 12,000, about 65km south-west of Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands,
The 31-year-old, who was staying at nearby Dimbulah, appeared before Atherton Magistrates Court on March 7 when he was remanded in custody.
He has been charged with rape, assault with intent to commit rape and indecent treatment of a child under 16.
Vanuatuan fruit picker Claude Kalo (above) has been charged with raping a teenage girl while on a seasonal foreign worker's visa in tropical Far North Queensland
Kalo is a fitness fanatic who once represented Vanuatu in judo and previously lived in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.
He is the second foreign fruit picker to be charged with rape while working in Australia in the past two months.
Daily Mail Australia contacted five members of Mareeba Shire Council, including mayor Angela Toppin, and none had heard about the alleged rape in their town.
Councillor Locky Bensted said he was shocked to learn of the allegation, which he expected to rock the community when it became known.
'There are a lot of large families that have called Mareeba home for many generations,' he said. 'They will be totally shocked by this, as I am.
'We are a multicultural farming and business community with over 77 different cultures who all live and reside here.
'The community will be outraged once this comes to light, that's for sure.'
Councillor Danny Bird said when news of the alleged rape reached the community, 'they're going to go nuts'.
Councillor Mario Mlikota said: 'I think definitely there will be anger'.
Kalo is a fitness fanatic who represented Vanuatu in judo and previously lived in the Northern Rivers region of NSW
Another local source said up to 300 workers from Vanuatu lived and worked in the Mareeba region, picking produce including bananas, mangoes and avocados.
The Vanuatuan presence increased when backpackers could not travel to the area during the Covid-19 pandemic and farmers turned to the Pacific Islands for help.
Most of the Vanuatuan workforce is temporarily employed under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) visa scheme and numbers peak over summer.
Visa-holders often stay on the farms where they work but some live in share accommodation in towns including Mareeba and Dimbulah.
The Queensland Police Service would not provide any details of the alleged attack on the teenage girl including when it allegedly occurred.
'Given the [alleged] victim's age and that this matter will be subject to a closed court judicial process we are not at liberty to provide any further information,' a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.
'Ultimately, we see it as our role to protect the identity of any victims, particularly where a child is involved.'
Claude Kalo allegedly raped a teenage girl at Mareeba (above), a town with a population of approximately 12,000 about 65km south-west of Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands
The QPS did not issue a media statement at the time about the girl's alleged rape or the man's arrest and the charges he is facing.
'On occasions, you will see us release information in cases where there has been an adult victim, if we believe it is in the public interest or if we believe there may be further victims who may come
