Twelve years ago, the now 61-year-old decided to start gardening after he found himself down on his luck, broke, unemployed and bored.

He offered to do a neighbour’s gardening and soon as news of his hard work spread by word of mouth, he found himself working seven days a week and earning top dollars.

“I got sick and tired of sitting around doing nothing,” he said.

“I was tired of being broke.

“I started gardening out of curiosity and now I love every moment of it.

“Now I don’t have time to drink or get bored.

“It’s a great job.

“I’m keeping fit, paying off my house, meeting people and enjoying their company and I’ve got no stress problems.

“Everything’s going my way.”

The business was originally a cash job, but thanks to help from the Central Wheatbelt Small Business Centre’s Sal Marais, it’s now an official business and all his paperwork is under control.

He even hopes to expand his business soon with advertising and stickers on his car.

He said he wanted to encourage more people in the Aboriginal community to find meaningful employment because of the happiness it can bring.

“It feels great when you’re going ahead with your life and feel like you’re achieving something,” he said.

“People respect you, and you have self-respect because you feel like you’re leaving something good behind.

“You can go out and eat whenever you want to, you can get your own car and own your own house and you can pay your own way if you want to travel and visit relatives.

“I’m enjoying life much more now.”

Hughie said he had worked in numerous other laboring positions throughout his life including at mines, the Ord River Dam, painting, on the railways and as a roustabout, but alcohol had been a problem for him.

Now he said he had not touched a drop of alcohol in 20 years and he had never felt better.

“In the past, to be quite honest, I loved alcohol,” he said.

“But I don’t believe in counselling.

“Your mind is your own mind, and you have to get up and do things for yourself.”

To help more Indigenous people start their own business ventures, the Central Wheatbelt Small Business Centre is holding a workshop at Venue 68, 68 Bates Street Merredin, at 5.30pm on Tuesday, April 20.

Guests will include successful Indigenous business people and other inspirational speakers.

Members of the Indigenous community are encouraged to attend and find out how to start a profitable business like Hughie, whether it is gardening, art or something else they are interested in.