Robert Youngblutt is a Campbell Page site Supervisor on Palm Island and has been living on the Island since he was 30 years old.

Originally from Bribie Island (75km from Brisbane), Robert first visited Palm Island at the age of 19 to spend time with his Aunt and Uncle. A year later he returned to help them renovate their house at Pencil Bay and he fell in love with the Island.

I loved the natural beauty, the colours, the reef and most of all, the people.

The following decade saw Robert travel between the mainland and Palm Island for work. Robert had thought about moving permanently to Palm Island but made the decision final one night as he was walking home.

I was wandering home one night and I ran into a beautiful Island girl named Nazareth. I’d fallen in love with the Island and now with the most beautiful woman on the Island. Within two years we were married.

Robert has had numerous jobs on Palm Island from working as a Plant Operator at Reservoir Ridge to a Works Manager at Palm Island Council. He is now helping his community in a new way – by organising and supervising seven other supervisors and the 100+ participants they engage with. His duties cover some of the main Campbell Page CDP activities on the Island: Market Garden, Greening and Recycling, all of which are set up to become enterprises.

Robert enjoys his job and the incredible team spirit they have on the Island, which he thinks makes coming to work a pleasure.

In addition to work, I also spend my time on the Island with my 8 wonderful children and 11 (soon to be 12) grandchildren and watching my teams, the North Queensland Cowboys and the Hawthorn Hawks play.

Robert dreams of one day upgrading his boat and spending lazy days on the water exploring his island paradise.


We believe that no-one should be denied the opportunity of secure employment. Our Community Development Programme (CDP) is our remote employment and community development service. We have made it our mission to provide the Palm Island community with access to the opportunity of sustainable employment. To find out more about our CDP activities on Palm Island please click here or contact us directly here.

Words by: Tiarne Pattison

tiarne.pattison@campbellpage.org.au