It's late in the process, but here is some info I turned up summarizing neatly what is happening on Hamilton Island. It is owned by the Australian government but leased long-term to the Oatley family. It is the second largest population of any Great Barrier Reef Island. Wikipedia says:
"Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef" promotion
In January 2009, a number of media sources reported that Tourism Queensland was advertising for an "Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef" based on Hamilton Island, calling it "the best job in the world" . The advertisement was part of a PR campaign created by ad agencies. Job benefits included a large salary, free lodging in a multi-million dollar villa, and transportation there and around the islands. The application process included a Web video to be publicly voted on. The job duties listed were primarily publicity with Web videos, blogging, and photo diaries. The submission web site crashed two days later following excessive visits and application video uploading(note added by me - due to 500,000 applications).
On February 11, 2009, Christopher Grima jumped off the South Causeway Bridge in Fort Pierce, Florida. The police report said that he "wanted to capture a video of himself jumping off the bridge, to gain attention of the recruiters" for this job. He quickly received a summons for breach of the peace / disorderly conduct.
More marketing savvy applicants have taken to creating blogs (
www.pickme-pickme.com) and establishing Facebook groups to create buzz about themselves.