It was an honour for a group of Indigenous students visiting Middlemount South coal mine to meet one of the company’s trainee truck drivers, a former student at their school Wadja Wadja High School.
Not only did the 10 students embrace young Waynette Rankinn with a warm hug, they also discovered how their cultural heritage is protected on a mine site with a tour from local elder and Barada Kabalbara Yetimarala (BKY) representative Norm Ross and his daughter Laila.
The activity is a first for the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) school, and the first time that students have been permitted to go onsite for this type of activity.
“Norm and Laila helped the students understand the significance of the cultural heritage surveys and take them to an area of the mine to see firsthand the type of work they do,” said Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Director of Education Skills and Diversity Katrina-Lee Jones.
“The day also gave the students an insight into career pathways that students can follow when they leave school,” she said. ‘We are very appreciative of the support from both Middlemount South and the BKY group for this cultural heritage activity.”
The QMEA is a partnership between the QRC and the Queensland Government under its Gateway to Industry Schools programme. It has 46 schools throughout Queensland.
QRC is the peak representative body for Queensland ‘s resource sector. The Queensland resources sector provides one in every AUS$6 dollars in the Queensland economy, sustains one in eight Queensland jobs, and supports 16 400 businesses across the State all from 0.1% of Queensland’s land mass.