My walk from Darwin to Canberra

My name is Ashok Alexander and I am walking from Darwin to Canberra. This is my first ever attempt at such a long journey, and it is roughly 4000 kilometres and 5 Million steps. A significant part of it will be through remote roads in the Outback. It will test my physical and mental resilience and is altogether a vastly different challenge to being a Company Director, a position I held for many years.


FACEBOOK PAGE # 5 MILLION STEPS

BACKGROUND

I was passionate about business and in the last 20 years I have managed many different businesses and worked hard to make them work. However the last 4 ½ years have been different due to legal issues related to a few overseas workers my company employed. The severe penalty imposed on my company and me personally still surprises me. It forced the closure of a business that had been running for 20 years, and was employing 15 staff in two offices, doing tens of thousands of repairs/sales in NT & helping hundreds of people via University Work Experiences/ Apprenticeships/ Community Events etc.

To put everything in perspective:
-$430K had to be paid by the company
- $86K had to be paid personally, by myself
- $152K had to be put towards legal costs
- $120K was lost during the legal process period
- $400K was lost as an initial business investment
- $100K with supplier and bank exposures.

After running a business whole heartedly for so many years, that’s over a million dollars lost for making one mistake of employing overseas staff and paying them the local wages (5 years ago) of 45K not 54K asked by the immigration department under the now revoked 457 scheme.

Now with all the hardships and stress we faced, I felt like I needed to do something to create awareness so that any small business that may think of this option can  be more aware of the penalties. I believe that Australia still operates under a 1970 union mindset, with employer's holding all the responsibility and the wilfully participating employees who agreed to the conditions walking free, while being supported and funded by the Government. I believe this is one sided and unfair.

PROPOSAL

I hence decided to use my remaining resources to walk from Darwin to Canberra, allowing me to move on by clearing my mind of the unfair high handed approach of the government I have faced as well as the prejudice against me as a person, due to my race and being an employer.

I also want to bring attention to the challenges of small business & others disadvantaged by government actions or inaction. I also hope to be a better role model to my kids and others, by standing their cause in own life.

Support can be given in different forms - visiting me once or twice on my way, sharing the information with any small business people whom you know and financial help to keep going. It is a long walk and I will be very grateful for any support you can provide.