The gas industry's promise of fracking-related jobs in the Beetaloo Basin has divided Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, leaving some feeling hopeful and others suspicious.
Jeremy Jackson works at Indigenous labour hire company Triple P Contracting, in the small NT town of Elliott.
The company previously worked for Origin Energy removing waste, conducting weed surveys and checking well sites.
Now, the labourers work for the Beetaloo Basin's largest stakeholder, Tamboran Resources.
"It was the only way we could go, to get a bit of benefit out of it, to get some work and maybe some community benefit in the long term," Mr Jackson said.
"We need to be smarter and wiser, to actually meet with these companies to actually negotiate with them and get a better deal for us Indigenous people."
In the town of Elliott, which lies roughly halfway between Alice Springs and Darwin, jobs and training opportunities are scarce.
That is why some residents were cheering on the proposed Sun Cable solar farm at the nearby Newcastle Waters cattle station.
"A lot of people are keen on going out and working," Mr Jackson said.
"It's just a matter of ... getting these companies to actually employ our local people."
In a statement, a Tamboran Resources spokesman said development of the Beetaloo Basin would provide "significant employment, training and business development opportunities for local Indigenous people".
"Tamboran currently employ local Indigenous staff and utilise local Indigenous contracting services for exploration activity," the spokesman said.
"Our aim is to see this increase as the project moves from the exploration to production phase."
'The forgotten town'
The acceleration of a gas industry in the Beetaloo Basin has left many Aboriginal people in a "hard position", according to Badpa and Kallala elder Harold Dalywaters.
"If there's employment for young people to take up jobs, mainstream work, and it'll benefit the community then that'll be good," he said
"But if fracking does a lot of damage to our country, it'll ruin the place for our wildlife, hunting and the environment."
Mr Dalywaters was among more than a dozen Aboriginal leaders who attended a meeting about fracking in Elliott, held by the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation last Thursday.
The corporation, which represents a group of traditional owners deeply opposed to fracking, obtained a report earlier this year that concluded the economic benefits of Beetaloo gas production would be "uncertain and variable".
Mr Dalywaters said calls for more job opportunities, as well as better housing and healthcare, had been falling on deaf ears for a long time.
He was not convinced this time would be any different.
"For decades, there's been a lot of promises," Mr Dalywaters said.
"One of the names for Elliott — its second name — is the forgotten town."
Some sceptical of promised benefits
Djingili elder Janet Sandy, who also attended the meeting, said she doubted Aboriginal people would benefit from fracking at all.
"That mining company already has people who are employed and they bring them in — they fly in, they fly out," she said.
"These are people who have been with the company for years and years and years.
"So what are the chances of [Aboriginal people] getting a job on the ground? They won't."
In a statement, a spokesperson for NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade offered a "suite of workforce and training support offerings" to help Territorians secure jobs.
Mudburra traditional owner Janey Dixon, who feared fracking would damage water, believed it was unlikely gas companies would offer employment opportunities to Aboriginal people.
"They won't have no jobs — they're just bribing people," she said.
APPEA's NT director waters down job estimates
The estimated number of fracking-related jobs that could one day be offered to Territorians is unclear.
Last week, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) said in a statement that "Beetaloo development, depending on its size, could create up to 6,300 jobs".
The lobby group's NT director David Slama has previously told the ABC up to 4,000 jobs could potentially come from fracking the basin.
However on Monday, he moved to water down that figure.
"The figures that have been bouncing around, like the ones reported in the media and in the newspapers, are of thousands of jobs over a 20 to 30-year period," Mr Slama said.
"I'm not going to use that number — I'm more realistic."
Overall, Mr Slama said Beetaloo development could create between "several hundred jobs" or potentially 1,000 jobs, including for Indigenous people.
"There's nothing to be scared about," he said.
"It's all about an exciting future and plenty of opportunities for everybody."
