A Brisbane family has turned a COVID-era property search into a love affair with one of Australia’s most remote communities, purchasing an undeveloped 40-acre block on Flinders Island.
Kirk Wetherell from Paddington in Brisbane, began looking for a “bush block” during lockdown as a generational investment for his family.
“I call it land banking, something we can buy and then keep in the family forever and leave to the kids,” Wetherill said.
His search expanded increasingly further from Queensland until he discovered the isolated Tasmanian island in 2022.
“There’s no power, access is via a Crown Reserve. So it’s about as remote as you could possibly imagine,” he said.
The property combines two elements close to Wetherell’s heart.
“I grew up in the country in South East Queensland. My dad was a farmer, pineapple farm and cattle. And Flinders is this really unique place, which has got rural with cattle, sheep. And then it also has the ocean.”
Despite being newcomers, Wetherell says his family has been warmly welcomed by the tight-knit community of approximately 600-1000 residents.
“The local community here are just amazing. What I’ve learned here is that the locals really support each other.”
The family has already constructed a small deck and shed on their property, intentionally hiring local builders, and plans to build a more permanent structure in the future.
Wetherell encouraged potential island property buyers to be patient and prepared for higher costs.
“It takes a long time to build, so it’s not quite as quick as on the mainland. So just have a long, long plan, and then it should be OK.”
The family now visits once or twice yearly, with long-term plans to spend several months annually on the island after their children finish school.
He called for increased flights from mainland Australia, along with increased airline capacity to Launceston and Hobart.
“I know there’s other Queenslanders that bought here, we don’t really want to have to fly to Launceston and then fly back to Flinders. We just want more regular flights from Melbourne directly here and back again.”
“We’ve got two young girls, 11 and 13. My wife and I would like to come here a couple of months in the year, potentially later in our life, and get more involved in the local community as well.”
“We’ll be coming here forever.”
Flinders Island has a population of just 922 people, according to the 2021 Census.
