In this dusty corner of the Outback, Tarna Andrews sat in the local schoolyard and rolled off a catalogue of problems afflicting her largely Indigenous community: Lack of jobs. Inadequate health services. Spotty internet.
Andrews has spent 38 years teaching in this tiny settlement, where dogs roam red-dirt streets some 220 kilometers from the nearest large town, Alice Springs.
On this cloudless afternoon, she was looking for answers but coming up short. Would Australia's Oct. 14 referendum on Indigenous issues, if successful, mean better housing, jobs, medical care and other improvements in Areyonga, known locally as Utju, where many live hand-to-mouth?