In a report in The Age this morning another side of the head of the millionaires factory comes to the fore, with Macquarie Bank CEO Bill Moss who will quit his post in three weeks, telling delegates at the Global Foundation Roundtable conference in Melbourne yesterday that he would prepare a green paper on how private investment could ease the disadvantage of remote Aboriginal communities.
The paper, which Mr Moss challenged business leaders to help him compile, will then be presented to the Federal Government and he added, “My view on this is that you have to just get in and do it yourself.” “If you wait for government to act on this stuff, you will be waiting for another 200 years.”
Foremost among Mr Moss’ ideas is a tax credit, encouraging big business to invest in indigenous communities and businesses.
For the past two years, Mr Moss has funded a project known as Gunya Tourism in the town of Tikjikala, 120 kilometres from Alice Springs and with a $300,000 investment from the Macquarie executive, locals have formed a tourism-based business that showcases Aboriginal culture to mostly international tourists.
The business already employs 94 people and will break even this year.
A community once totally dependent on government welfare is now planning to develop extra income streams, including new businesses producing handicrafts and cosmetics.
Mr Moss said, “The children there want to learn English, they want to go to school because they want to communicate.” “They want to learn about their culture.”
“If the Government can pay to stimulate the film industry in order to create jobs then I think they can pay to stimulate jobs in Aboriginal communities.”
A Report by The Mole
