Walpiri man Eddie Jampijinpa Robertson, community leader in Northern Territory’s remote Yuendumu, is a national finalist for Senior Australian of the Year 2015.
Mr Robertson is a former mayor and long-serving member of Yuendumu Baptist Church.
He was central to the movement to end petrol sniffing in his community.
The problem has ceased since Opal, which does not contain the high-inducing ingredients of regular petrol, was introduced, Mr Robertson said.
“It stopped 10 years ago… nobody seems to be trying to,” Mr Robertson told SBS News.
Mr Robertson’s community service started after leaving school at 16 years of age.
“First job I got was as a baker,” Mr Robertson said.
“People needed food out in the bush.”
Since then he has held many jobs, including a teaching role, and was the Yuendumu community’s longest serving mayor in the 1990's.
Today, Mr Robertson serves as Australian Government Indigenous Engagement Officer for his community and is the Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation chair.
Mr Robertson is the Yuendumu Local Reference Group's founder, which serves as the key community body providing feedback and advice to the Australian Government.
Despite Mr Robertson’s list of achievements, he never thought an Australian of the Year Awards nomination was possible for a person in a remote community.
“I never thought this would happen to me,” Mr Robertson said.
“I never thought that someone would follow up on my work in the past.”
- SBS is running a series of articles highlighting Australians named as finalists in this year’s Australian of the Year Awards.
