Proponents of the Voice to Parliament say it will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders greater input into the government policies which shape their lives, and one of the key issues is creating steady jobs.
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00:00 I like doing more.
00:13 Lindsay May has been painting and selling landscapes for more than 30 years.
00:19 Now he's trying to pass on decades of knowledge.
00:23 They've got to learn. If I pass away, what do I do with it? They keep on doing that.
00:30 He lives and works in Yalata, an Anangu community near the Great Australian Bight.
00:41 As with many other remote communities, unemployment has long been one of Yalata's biggest issues.
00:50 When I get up in the morning, when the people go off bus, I just want to ask some young
00:55 fellas, "Come, you want to work?" But they don't want to come for work.
01:01 But locals are starting to have some success cutting into that long-running problem.
01:08 Inside this shed, workers are packaging wood. They've harvested dead trees from Yalata land
01:15 to sell as firewood.
01:18 We work because we do something in this community.
01:24 Just next door is another community-led initiative creating jobs for Yalata locals.
01:29 23-year-old Joanne Baker started in the grocery store about three weeks ago.
01:34 I like doing work for myself and taking in things.
01:45 Many people here in Yalata view employment as key to improving the lives of younger generations.
01:50 But projects such as these are not without their challenges.
01:54 Not everyone regularly turns up to work, and locals say Yalata is still impacted by drug
02:00 and alcohol misuse.
02:02 The times are tough everywhere, not just in Aboriginal communities, it's tough getting
02:06 a job anywhere. But we think that we can make a difference and grow this community to stand
02:12 on its own.
02:14 For many locals, it's a source of pride that, through their own initiatives, they've managed
02:18 to make positive changes, growing the number of jobs in Yalata from 19 to 66 in just three
02:25 years.
02:27 The value of self-determination has been a key theme of the YES campaign, which hopes
02:32 a voice to parliament would ensure decision-makers take note of what can be achieved when change
02:37 is driven from within.
02:40 We put a story to the government, Canberra, to help us, you know, help people.
02:47 But ahead of the referendum, most locals are reluctant to talk about it. They'd rather
02:53 focus on issues much closer to home, like getting more young people into work.
02:58 We'd like to do something in this community. We want to keep this community strong.
03:05 [BLANK_AUDIO]