Meet the Yiyili Community working on Tanami Road Upgrade
We’re proud to have the remote Aboriginal Community making up almost 10 per cent of the total workforce on our Tanami Road Upgrade project.
Published: 25 July 2024, Updated: 25 July 2024
Yiyili is a remote Aboriginal community located 110 kms west of Halls Creek, on Gooniyandi Country and, we’re proud to have the remote Aboriginal Community making up almost 10 per cent of the total workforce on our Tanami Road Upgrade project.
Tanami Road is 1,035 km long, linking Alice Springs to the Great Northern Highway, near Halls Creek. In June 2023, a 10-year program to seal the 313 km Western Australian section of Tanami Road commenced, bringing with it a strong delivery focus on long-term Aboriginal engagement and employment.
Gooniyandi Elder and community leader Paul Cox began working with Main Roads in late 2022. By 2023, with work on Tanami underway, Paul had tendered a water cart, and supply of labour and a light vehicle, and employed eight Yiyili community members to support him.
Centre of photo Paul Cox, Yiyili community leader and Gooniyandi Elder, February 2023.
“My young fella didn’t have a HR (licence) so I had to organise one, and we travelled to Wangkatjunga, and now he’s on the water cart” Paul said.
“For the roller operators, we got Jason, Ivan, Lucas, Kevin and myself. We organised training for the boys to come out on-site and Main Roads did the course on-site. They got passed on roller and excavator tickets. It’s good, all my boys got HRs and it can mean long term jobs for them” Paul said.
Fellow Yiyili resident and Jaru man Kevin Long also joined Main Roads, and the Tanami Road project in 2023, supplying wet hire of a loader. In early 2024, Kevin expanded his services, supplying the project with three padfoot rollers.
“I heard family in Bililuna saying there was a flyer about Tanami starting and there was a lot of opportunity for Aboriginal Jaru people” Kevin said. Then I meet a bloke named John and was talking to him about how I get on the Tanami. John found out and we sent an email to Main Roads, and it sort of came together”.
“We organised a meeting with Nev (Neville Walters, Project Manager) and he said ‘if you can provide the workers you can provide more machines.Then from there I went with two padfoots, a roller and my loader. Now I got my four sons working for me.”
Over the last 12 months, Paul and Kevin have been committed to providing ongoing employment opportunities for Yiyili residents.
They have actively worked alongside Main Roads to provide on-the-job training and skills development, which includes working with the Department of Transport to secure HR licences and roller tickets for their employees and the numbers tell the story!
After almost two years, two businesses, five plant items and two light vehicles – Paul and Kevin currently provide employment and support to 12 Aboriginal men from the Yiyili Community. Their collaborative efforts have increased opportunities for local Aboriginal people who can now look forward to long-term opportunities in the region as the Tanami Road project continues.
Some of the Tanami Road Project crew - Back row L-R: Kevin Long, Paul Dean Cox Jnr, Dennis Duinker, Lindsay Dawson, Gilbert Cox, Devughn Wallaby, Lucas Long. Front Row L-R: Jay Long, Jason Cox, June 2024.
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