Arabic version: وظيفة في تغطية التربة بالنشارة في كانبيرا قادت جاك لاركن إلى الصحافة

According to The Guardian, Jack Larkin left a human resources job in Canberra in early 2020 and later joined his brother’s new landscaping business during the Covid lockdowns. The company had won a tender to mulch parks across Canberra, offering Larkin work when he needed money and his mother wanted him out of the house.

Larkin’s landscaping experience was limited to mowing his mother’s lawn and occasional hedge trimming. He joined a team that included an ex-sports physio, a former Canberra Raiders rugby player and a former plasterer. Each morning at 5am, the crew travelled in a Toyota HiLux, collected a skid steer loader and headed to the park assigned for the day.

The work involved spreading truck-delivered mulch around the bases of trees with rakes. A load was enough for five trees and could take about an hour to complete, leaving the workers waiting for the next delivery. The job also brought practical problems: a loader stopped in the middle of a road, while a jockey wheel on a rented trailer was badly bent after it was not wound up.

Larkin said he struggled with the physical demands, including lower-back spasms and shoulder problems, and his tendency to lose focus created tension with his brother. They agreed he should leave the business. His brother urged him to go to university, and Larkin later worked briefly in communications before moving to Melbourne to study journalism. He said the experience showed him the importance of work that challenges him mentally and matches his interests. His brother’s business stopped trading a year later.