Huge global interest in “the best job in the world” — earning good money for lazing on a paradise island — has crashed the Australian Web site where it is advertised, officials said yesterday.
“We’ve been inundated, with around 300,000 people visiting the site yesterday,” said a spokeswoman for the Queensland state government, which is offering the six-month post of “island caretaker.”
“The Web site crashed — in one hour alone 25,000 people were trying to visit — but we’re working on it and it should be up and running again later today,” Nicole McNaughton said.
The job pays A$150,000 (US$100,000) and includes free airfare from the successful candidate’s home country to tropical Hamilton Island on the famed Great Barrier Reef.
In return, the winner will be expected to have as much fun as he or she can — soaking up the sun, swimming, snorkeling, sailing — and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.
The successful candidate — who will stay rent-free in a multi-million-dollar three-bedroom beach home — must be over 18, a “fantastic and charismatic” communicator, and able to speak and write English.
The campaign is a key element in a drive to promote the northeastern Australian state’s A$18 billion a year tourism industry during the tough global economic climate, officials say.
And they are at pains to stress that it is “a real job.”
The successful applicant will “also have to talk to media from time to time about what they’re doing so they can’t be too shy and they’ll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors,” said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.
“The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world,” he said.
“We’ve had visitors [to the Web site] from as far and wide as Mongolia and Vatican City” since the job was first widely publicized on Tuesday, McNaughton said.
More than 350 applications had been submitted before the Web site crashed — from the UK, the US, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands and Portugal among other countries.
“The applicants so far have ranged from a Swiss horsewoman to a sun-seeking teenager from England to ‘Richard’ from the UK who can be seen swimming with the fish in his application,” she said.
Candidates are required to create a video application in English of up to one minute explaining why they are uniquely qualified for the job.
Applications are open until Feb. 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six-month contract will commence on July 1.
Job-seekers can apply on www.islandreefjob.com.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
CEREMONY EXPECTED: Abdullah Ocalan said he believes in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons, and called on the group to put that into practice The jailed leader of a Kurdish militant group yesterday renewed a call for his fighters to lay down their arms, days before a symbolic disarmament ceremony is expected to take place as a first concrete step in a peace process with the Turkish state. In a seven-minute video message broadcast on pro-Kurdish Medya Haber’s YouTube channel, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps. “It should be considered natural for you to publicly ensure the disarmament of the relevant groups in a way that addresses the expectations
RSS