Latitude 40: Stories from the Edge: Flinders Island, Tasmania

Policing on a small island can’t hide behind job titles. When everyone knows your name and your face, trust becomes the first tool you reach for, long before paperwork or penalties. On Flinders Island in Tasmania’s Furneaux Group two men have worn the same uniform in very different eras: former Senior Sergeant Tony Power and current Senior Constable Will Broadbridge. Tony takes us back through the...

A baby crosses Bass Strait to Flinders Island in a cupboard drawer, and eight decades later that same kid is still showing people what steady work, resilience and community look like. In this episode, Jacqui sits down with her dad, John Cooper, to explore a life shaped by the land, the sea, and the people who make island communities what they are. From his family roots at Woodlands near Emita, Joh...

In this episode of Latitude 40 Season 2 - Stories from the Edge, Jacqui Cooper sits down with long-time Flinders Island local Gwen Bailey for a heartfelt conversation about family, faith, resilience and the deep connections that shape island life. From her family’s early ties to Vansittart Island and Badger Corner, to working in some of the island’s earliest stores and building a life through farm...

A suburban newspaper ad. A leap of faith. A rough crossing filled with diesel fumes, cattle smells and the kind of uncertainty that tells you life is about to change. Jacqui sits down with Dawn Zelman, an accomplished artist, teacher, cook and storyteller who arrived on Flinders Island in 1987 and chose to stay. Dawn’s memories are sharply detailed, sometimes funny, sometimes confronting and alway...

In Episode 2 of Latitude 40 Season 2, Jamie West sits down with long-time island builder Guy Ireland for a warm and thoughtful conversation about life, resilience and community on Flinders Island. From an unexpected encounter with hitchhikers in New Zealand that eventually led him to the island, to decades spent building homes, mentoring apprentices and supporting local organisations, Guy reflects...

In the first episode of Latitude 40 Season 2, Jacqui Cooper sits down with Flinders Mayor Rachel Summers for an honest and heartfelt conversation about community, leadership and life on a remote island. From accidentally moving to Flinders Island after confusing it with Bruny Island, to becoming Mayor, Rachel shares her journey, the challenges facing the island, and the power of community spirit....

Debbie and Josie speak with Ben Backhaus about his family business, Bush Pharmacy, where Ben distills essential oils grown and harvested on Flinders Island.  You can almost smell the aromas as Ben describes the range of oils. Ben attributes the unique properties of the oils to the geographic isolation of the Island created by the separation of the land bridge to the Australian mainland. Ben sees t...

In this espisode, Josie and Debbie talk with Mel Telfer:  dental assistant, ambulance service volunteer, school teacher, truck driver, and a maker and the driving force behind The Purple Swamphen, the makers' co-op on Flinders Island. To outsiders Mel's life might look daunting but for her, the multiple roles she fills provide opportunities to feel purpose,  structure and function in her...

In this final episode of Season 1, Debbie and Josie speak with Wendy Jubb-Stoney who owns and operates Flinders Island Retreat .  Wendy talks about her childhood on Flinders Island and her deep attachment to the Furneaux islands. Returning to Flinders Island after years away, Wendy brings together her experience in food and hospitality, and her strong connection to the Island, to create a special...

Lois Ireland shares her unique family heritage on Flinders Island as a member of the third generation of the Bowman family owning and running the general store.  Lois reflects on the "pull of the mutton bird" that has drawn her and others back to live on the Island in Bass Strait.   Lois describes the sort of visitor she’d like to see on the Island, "people who come with a genuine i...

Former Mayor of Flinders Council, educator and always the Scot, Annie Revie talks about the dark history of Flinders Island and her decision to make the beautiful small island her home. Annie talks about what a thriving Flinders Island would look like: "we're kind of living on the edge of sustainability.  We're almost close to the stage where we may not have enough people to take us...

Self-proclaimed contrarian, Peter Rhodes, was born on Flinders Island and returned 40 years later to live. Peter claims it's only the second best place in the world to live - he's still looking for the 1st. Peter talks with Debbie and Josie about growing up on Flinders Island, going mutton birding with his father and his purchase of the figurehead of the Farsund, shipwrecked in Bass Stra...

Debbie and Josie speak with Dianne Dredge about the Islander Way regenerative tourism project on Flinders Is, Tasmania, Australia.  Dianne explains the innovative, emergent, community-led approach to co-designing a visitor economy with the community  that respects the community’s values, contributes to a resilient economy, and that takes responsibility for the impacts of tourism on the natural env...