'Best job' strikes Kiwi chord

Competition finalist Clark Gayford says girlfriend Hollie Smith will come too if he wins. Photo / Richard Robinson

A dream job as a caretaker for a tropical island will be a million-dollar marketing ploy for Australia, but if Kiwi television presenter Clarke Gayford lands the gig, the wider world could benefit from some soulful music.

The 32-year-old says Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef will be the perfect setting for his girlfriend, Kiwi soul singer Hollie Smith, to start penning her new album.

Gayford is among 50 finalists from nearly 35,000 applicants to become the caretaker of the island - a job Tourism Queensland has dubbed the "best job in the world".

The A$150,000 ($193,000) contract involves living in a three-bedroom, $4 million house for six months, mingling with tourists and writing a weekly blog to promote the area.

Gayford said he would bring along Smith if he scored the job.

"She could write her next album there. I'm sure she wouldn't mind relaxing in the sun."

The former C4 presenter is used to travelling to exotic locations, having been a presenter on the travel show Getaway.

He graduated from the NZ Broadcasting School in the 1990s and his first presenting experience was on The Edge radio station.

Gayford said that when he first heard about the Hamilton Island gig, "I thought, 'This is it'. Especially because I don't really have a job at the moment. I'm just doing a bit of radio work and MC-ing to stay alive.

"I'm in a dirty old flat in Auckland, I've got no mortgage, no children that I know of, a student loan - but that can wait."

Applicants had to submit a one-minute video about why they should be chosen for the role. Gayford's clip has him sitting in a paddling pool with a straw hat and Hawaiian shirt talking about why he should be picked, while footage of him presenting, doing MC work and modelling flashes up.

He says Great Barrier suffers from ocean acidification, coral bleaching, phosphate run-off "and tourists in dodgy swimwear" - showing a shot of an elderly man in a thong.

Gayford says in the video that while he's made comedies that have won Qantas awards he's also made "serious documentaries", including one in Antarctica about the effects of global warming on fish under the ice. He promises to donate some of his payment to a Great Barrier conservation project.

The finalists are from 22 countries, including the United States, Germany, Greece and India, and include an actor, a chef and a scientist.

The public can view their video applications on the job ad's website and vote for a favourite. The top vote-getter and 10 other people chosen by the tourism board will be flown to Hamilton Island for interviews. As of 6 o'clock last night, Gayford had 346 votes.

The winner will be announced on May 6 and the job begins on July 1.

The job, part of a A$1.7 million campaign to promote the charms of northeastern Queensland, has reportedly already generated more than A$70 million worth of publicity.