Tony Barrass; 24/12/09
It is make-or-break time for many young men in the Kimberley as they come to grips with the harsh realities of life without work-for-the-dole programs. Kevin Rudd’s decision to embrace the Howard government’s contentious phasing-out of Community Development Employment Projects by 2011 has forced many remote communities to get serious about training and creating long-term job opportunities. At Mount Anderson, on the northern tip of the Great Sandy Desert, 200km east of Broome, elders and young leaders have, like so many others across the Top End, identified tourism as a potential lifeline. They realise that if their job-creation plan works, they can have successful, meaningful lives, be in charge of their destiny and earn good money, as opposed to being at the mercy of government handouts and the social restrictions that come with it.
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Employment