In Australia's Outback, Indigenous Voice proposal struggles to inspire

Local residents Rosemary and Jonathan use the landline phone booth, as the local phone tower is out of service that day, ahead of a nationwide referendum on Indigenous issues, in Hermannsburg, Australia, September 18, 2023. On October 14, Australians will vote on whether to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution and enshrine in it an advisory body called the Voice to Parliament that would give non-binding advice to lawmakers on matters concerning the continent's first inhabitants. Surveys show nationwide support for the Voice declining from around 60 per cent earlier this year to around 40 per cent, with voters prioritising economic issues instead. Experts have partly attributed the slump to misinformation, along with a lacklustre "Yes" campaign and conservative opposition. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

AREYONGA, Australia (Reuters) - 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 km from the nearest large town, Alice Springs.