Filed: October 04, 2023, 11 p.m. GMTIn the dusty Outback village of Areyonga, Tarna Andrews sat in the local schoolyard and rolled off a catalogue of problems afflicting her largely Indigenous community: Lack of jobs.
Andrews has spent 38 years teaching in this tiny settlement, where dogs roam red-dirt streets some 220 km from the nearest large town, Alice Springs.
Would Australia’s Oct. 14 referendum on Indigenous issues, if successful, mean better housing, jobs, medical care and other improvements in Areyonga, known locally as Utju, where many live hand-to-mouth?
“We don’t see people coming from the government, coming and talking about what we need,” Andrews, who is Indigenous, said in an interview.
“If I vote, is the government going to listen to me?”
Persons:
Tarna Andrews, Andrews, ” Andrews
Locations:
Areyonga, Alice Springs