Vincent Forrester
While working in tourism, Forrester became outspoken about the lack of job opportunities for indigenous people living in the centre of Australia. Because of this, he said, the communities were living in poverty, and that the situation would continue to get worse until the federal government began talking to the communities directly. A lot of the problem, Forrester claimed, was due to racism. He called the situation "economic apartheid". He also acknowledged, however, that most people from indigenous-speaking communities lacked the literacy in English needed to keep a job. Most adults could not read and write, and the younger people did not have enough access to education. As a result, Forrester worked for several years in developing school curricula. In May 2011, the Ayers Rock Resort at Yulara was sold to the Indigenous Land Corporation. At the time of the sale, two out of the 700 people working at the resort were indigenous. At the start of 2013, it was reported that the number of indigenous workers had risen to 170; 35% of them were from Muṯitjulu.