Plan to create jobs for 50K Aborigines

SYDNEY, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The head of an Australian mining company says he will try to create jobs for 50,000 Aborigines in the next two years with help from the government.

Andrew Forrest -- the richest man in Australia and the chief executive of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. -- says his program is intended to have business take a larger role in Aboriginal job creation, which has tended to be a function of government.

Forrest said the Australian Employment Covenant will involve hundreds of companies hiring indigenous people, The Age reported.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd supports the plan, which will involve funding for training in mining, agriculture, hospitality and finance, the newspaper said.

"Government-only programs, I fear, are doomed to failure," Rudd said. "That's why we need a strong partnership between indigenous leadership, our major companies, as well as the government itself supporting this plan on the way through."

The plan calls for private companies to employ Aborigines who will be provided federally funded, job-specific training and will be placed under the guidance of a workplace mentor, Forrest said.