Oz offers ‘best job in world’

An Australian state has launched a global search for candidates for “the best job in the world” — earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months. The job pays AU$150,000 ($105,000 ) and includes free airfares from the successful applicant’s home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland’s state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the “island caretaker” will be expected to stroll the white sands, soak up the sun, snorkel the reef, “maybe clean the pool” — and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates. The winner, who will stay rent-free in a multi-million dollar three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be an excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English. The campaign was a drive to protect state’s tourism industry