Longitude 131°
Australian Pioneers and Explorers
'The first thing to do in any effort to uplift the tone of the bush is to give women a sense of security.'
John Flynn
1880 - 1951
It is surely rare for a strict Presbyterian minister to achieve the mantle of social revolutionary. And yet John Flynn was indeed both. His missionary concern for the isolated inhabitants of the Centre, and his extraordinary vision to combine medicine, aviation and radio, created a true social revolution across outback Australia.
As a young minister, Flynn was sent into the Centre to report on the missionary needs of its scattered communities. No one was better qualified. Flynn had spent years in the bush as a lay preacher. He had written The Bushman's Companion, in which he gave advice on everything from first aid to conducting a funeral.
But the vast inland was a revelation of the true rigours of bush life. In an area enclosing two million square kilometres and only two doctors, illness or accident often meant death. The sight of lonely bush graves distressed Flynn and his report, 'A Call to the Church', reflected less on the spiritual needs of the outback than more basic concerns, such as simply making it a place safe to live and possible to raise families.
'A mantle of safety over the inland,' was Flynn's call.
His Church heard him. They created the Australian Inland Mission and put him in charge. He set up a series of small hospitals and a corps of 'patrol padres' who travelled to every remote corner by camel or on horseback.
In spite of these efforts life in the outback remained fragile. Time and vast distance continued to be life-threatening conditions, and Flynn recognised that only transport and communication could provide a cure. Ironically it was the killing fields of World War One that provided the inspiration.
The conflict had advanced aircraft technology to the point where Flynn could see an answer to the transport problem - 'flying doctors'.
The first plane he pressed into service was a De Havilland on loan from Qantas, a wood and cloth biplane that could manage 100 kmh with a patient strapped to the wing. From his open cockpit the pilot navigated by track, creekbed or fenceline.
But isolated communities remained isolated when there was no way of calling for help.
'Is there a magic touch that can give the dumb bush its tongue?' Flynn asked. 'Yes there is. Wireless!'
With the help of an Adelaide inventor, he coupled a Morse wireless with a pedal-powered generator that allowed solo operation, and the bush had its 'tongue'.
Flynn had not only removed the curse of time and distance, he had opened up exciting new possibilities. When he replaced the Morse keyboard with a voice microphone, next-door families hundreds of kilometres apart were suddenly true neighbours. 'Galah sessions', the outback chat over the back fence, became a cherished part of life.
Isolated children could now be educated at home with the 'School of the Air'.
Flynn's 'mantle of safety' had not only forged a revolution, it had created a community of the Centre. As Prime Minister Robert Menzies said of Flynn's vision, 'It is the greatest single contribution to the settlement of the back country that we have witnessed in our time.'
Bookings
Enquiries
Tell a Friend