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Arrow helps Indigenous students shoot for the stars
Juren McPherson attends The Southport School. Images supplied
by Melanie Petrinec 18 October 2013
J
uren McPherson doesn’t know if he wants to represent his country on the rugby field, become a historian or be an artist when he grows up. But the Year 7 student has the opportunity to excel in any of those professions and more thanks to a $176,000 partnership between Arrow Energy and the Yalari Indigenous education program. Juren is in his first year at The Southport School on an Arrowsponsored scholarship, and was be among those attending the Yalari Gala Dinner last night to acknowledge the vital part education plays in promoting equity for Indigenous people. “This scholarship will give me a chance to go places in life, and get a good job and give my mum whatever she wants,” Juren, whose family are Mandandanji, Wakka Wakka and Barunggam Traditional Owners in the Surat Basin, said. “I love sports, maths, art and history... I probably won’t do something boring when I grow up, so I am not stuck in an office all day. “I am meeting people from around the world and learning from
Leilani Minniecon attends St Hilda’s School.
them.” Yalari has been offering Indigenous children from rural, remote and regional communities the opportunity to experience firstclass secondary education since 2005. Arrow works with Yalari to provide scholarships to two students from its areas of operations, including Juren and Leilani Minniecon, who attends Year 7 at St Hilda’s School in Southport and hails from the Gubbi Gubbi and Wakka Wakka Traditional Owner groups. Arrow Energy Chief Executive Officer Andrew Faulkner said Arrow was the first LNG proponent to launch a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) earlier this year, and deepening relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders was a priority. “Arrow is pleased to be expanding our existing respectful, enduring and mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous people and communities,” Mr Faulkner said. “I am proud of our ongoing and long-term support for Indigenous communities and initiatives, including Yalari, and particularly proud Arrow has 20 volunteers at the gala dinner tonight.
“Yalari does great work in giving promising children more opportunities to reach their goals and potential. “Education is a foundation block in setting up brighter futures for Indigenous children and their families.” Arrow’s RAP aims to promote the long-term social and economic development of Indigenous people through a range of initiatives including more than 200 tertiary scholarships, regional bursaries, training opportunities and more. Yalari CEO Arabella Douglas said corporate partners such as Arrow allowed the organisation to directly support the future of regional and remote communities by providing first-class education with some of the best schools in the country. Ms Douglas said Juren’s confidence had blossomed over the past year as a result of the Yalari pastoral which focuses on growth in self belief, confidence and determination. “Juren is a great example of the leadership quality that makes for a great Yalari scholar,” she said. Arrow is a platinum sponsor of the fundraising dinner for the second consecutive year.
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