Above: Robert Neale and the WestRock team

Apprentice lithographic printer Robert Neale from WestRock Packaging in Sydney has been named LIA NSW Graduate of the Year. 

Neale was presented with his award during the Visual Connections event in Sydney last week to review the drupa exhibition recently held in Düsseldorf.

“This is a very humbling experience,” Neale told ProPack.

“I received a Certificate III in Printing and I have finished TAFE seven months early by putting in extra work, taking work home and working in my own time. I am only half way through my third year and I am already on a machine at WestRock in North Richmond. I am working on a Manroland 700 – it is a hybrid sheetfed press that does UV and Conventional which is good. WestRock have been a great company to work for.

“Over the next decade I hope to become a leader in the company – I aspire to join the management team in the future. I am 41 years – so I am not young and this is my second trade. I started as a book binder at Rural Press working on Ferag, Muller, Sitma and Recmi devices and when I saw the writing on the wall I made the move to packaging. This worked out for me as I joined before Covid and I have had a secure job in the packaging industry.,” Neale said.

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