Years later Gerry bumped into that teacher on the street.

“He says, ‘Young Moorey, what are you doing with yourself these days?’” Gerry said.

“I said, ‘Oh sir, I’m just back from a United Nations conference in Greenland.’

“He asked what it was all about and I said it was about indigenous self-management and I said, ‘You know what? Greenland isn’t green’.”

Gerry could tell from the teacher’s knitted brow and his expression this was a big departure from what he’d expected.

From time to time, the two continued to bump into each other, with the teacher asking Gerry about his life.

“It gave me some pleasure to do that – but all the time maintaining respect and not gloating. The thought in the back of my mind was ‘I did amount to something and accomplish something and I’m using that to help my people,” he said.

Gerry Moore is the managing director of indigenous employment agency, Habitat Personnel, which has offices in Nowra and Canberra.

He grew up in Wreck Bay on a mission, but said he has mostly good memories of childhood, despite the dressing down he received at school.

“I just thought that was an interesting story in that we all change for the better or worse and to always maintain respect and keep your dignity,” Gerry said.

“It was a good life lesson for me.”

He said he’s been fortunate to have good people around him – one well-known local solicitor even taught Gerry to read and write at the age of 19.

Now Gerry’s come full circle, using his skills and abilities to further the wellbeing of his mob.

Habitat’s core purpose is to help indigenous people into jobs, “helping them in particular to add value to the local economy, and therefore the national economy. Being someone who sees the glass half full, rather than half empty, will always take you places,” he said.

One of the “good people” in Gerry’s life is retired banker Bill Moyle.

Bill has had an illustrious career in Australian and international banking spanning 40 years.

He’s seen the ups and downs of the financial industry, travelling the world implementing systems.

Bill has been part of the shift in seeing women employed as professionals in banks and has rescuing companies from bankruptcy and scandal.

Unsurprisingly his career has been punctuated with a good deal of head-hunting.

There were failures too, some quite catastrophic – but Bill, a self-described “incurable optimist” - hasn’t let them break him.

In fact he has embraced them, ensuring that should he experience “feelings of hubris or pride” a simple recollection of certain misfortunes could restore humility.

A gradual shift into retirement through the 1990s saw Bill a director on a number of boards; industry superfunds, philanthropic endeavours, medical centres and the like.

It was Bill’s 72nd birthday when he officially “retired from everything”.

Moving to Vincentia with his wife Judy, Bill first stayed engaged by researching his family history back to the 16th century.

“My daughter, Sally, had just moved into a government department called FaHCSIA [Australian Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs] working in indigenous affairs,” he said.

“It occurred to me I’d never had anything to do with Aboriginal people and little to do with their culture. So I decided I should remedy that.”

He graduated in August last year with a Bachelor of Arts in Aboriginal Studies.

“I read about Gerry … and I thought maybe he might need someone like me,” Bill said.

He wrote a letter to Gerry, the two met and the rest is recent history.

“For the first time I can say I’ve got a friend who is an Aboriginal man,” Bill said.

“You can Uncle,” Gerry replied.

The mutual admiration between the two is obvious.

 “Uncle Bill - I call him that out of respect - I rang and said, ‘When can you come in?’

“It’s safe to say the relationship grew a life of its own and bigger picture things have emerged.”

In a six short months working together the formidable duo is looking at tackling issues like the Racial Discrimination Act, constitutional change and referendums with a hope to give Aboriginal people a voice in lawmaking.

“Having the wisdom of people like Uncle Bill to talk to … is an amazing window into the thoughts of likeminded people. You can’t do it on an Aboriginal perspective alone; you need to talk to all people.”

Their goals are simple.

“Our aim is national unity and social cohesion,” Bill said.

The Shoalhaven has been a trial ground for many advances in indigenous liberties, such as circle sentencing and care circles.

“We seem to be at the forefront of these things,” Gerry said.

“Having a think tank of people to keep you balanced, on track and questioning which direction to take people in – it’s such a huge asset to have in a small organisation like ours.”

For Bill he’s proved to himself a person’s usefulness doesn’t end at retirement.

“You don’t have to put your feet up and retreat. You can contribute to society. In fact, it’s the responsibility of business people to contribute to their community.”