Young Australian of the Year for 2007 and GenerationOne spokesperson Tania Major said Dubbo was a “good model town” that gave hope that Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians could work together to end the disparity and move forward.
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GenerationOne, a not-for-profit organisation aimed at ending the cycle of poverty and disadvantage among Indigenous Australians through sustainable employment, education and training, visited Dubbo yesterday as part of its six-week nationwide tour.
Ms Major said “we don’t need money - we need jobs, we need opportunities”, and the campaign was about generating ideas and getting businesses and organisations onboard that wanted to make a difference and help Australia move forward.
“Coming here (I can see) times have changed ... and you should be proud of yourselves,” Ms Major said.
“You’ve got a representative for Indigenous people on the council ... and there are actually Indigenous people employed in the main street.
“If we can use Dubbo as a model of how we can work together, I think it’s fantastic.”
Mayor Allan Smith was at the event to show his support and agreed that “we in Dubbo have come a long way” and that “these initiatives are extremely important”.
“The only way to break the cycle of poverty is to get people educated and get them employed,” he said.
“This year and last year
we’ve had an extremely good retention rate of students at Dubbo College.
“We’ve been through the Sorry Days ... but we have to put some practical things in place.”
