thats why andrew forrest has to be congratulated. something different is being attempted
sure. it is good to see Andrew take steps in openly breaking down discrimination & openly declaring he seeks to have 15% of his workforce aboriginal. plus to give service contracts to aboriginal corporations. the FMG annual reports states it is employing around 600 aboriginal directly & 500 indirectly
imagine if other major corporations or government bodies explicitly & overtly declared they have aboriginal employment as an agenda?
that said, it still requires great fundamental change to achieve this because FMG is in the mining industry where the required skill base is less
in other words, as is the key to all things, education for Aboriginal children is the key issue and, imo, this is where key thought, innovation & funding may need to occur
for example, a friend of mine was involved in the following project, seeking to bring a kind of education to Aboriginal children that was more suitable & effective
http://www.montessorifoundation.org/capeyork.htm
iron ore prices were down in FY13 yet FMG still made a 21% net profit margin
compare to a retail business like JBH that makes a 4% net profit margin
although andrew forrest is in a unique & different position, the rest of Australia certainly requires to put in much more thought in how to bring an effective education & skills creation to Aboriginal youth
this is not handouts but would require a lot of funding, which is why Andrew should have supported the MRRT
but when you are selling lower grade iron ore and have a huge corporate debt burden then your thought processes will become skewed
