Flinders Island
Historically important island lying north
east of Tasmania in Bass Strait
Located 20 km north of Cape Portland by sea and
151 km from Launceston by air, Flinders Island
is the largest of the Furneaux group of islands
which lie to the north east of Tasmania in Bass
Strait. It is about 29 km wide at its widest
point and 64 km long.
The island was probably part of a land bridge
which joined Tasmania to the mainland. Bass
Strait was formed as a result of the melting of
ice after the last ice age and consequently
Flinders, Cape Barren and Three Hummocks all
became islands and the Aborigines of Tasmania
were cut off from their mainland counterparts.
The island was first identified by Europeans
when Tobias Furneaux, the commander of Cook's
support ship, became separated from the
Endeavour in fog and discovered the Furneaux
group of islands on 19 March 1773.
George Bass and Matthew Flinders, resolved
the issue of Van Diemen's Land's status, when,
between October 1798 and June 1799, they
circumnavigated the island. The strait which
separates Tasmania from the mainland was named
after Bass and this, the major island, was named
after Flinders by Governor King.
Flinders Island is a mountainous place which,
like King Island, has seen changing land use
over the last two hundred years.
Like King Island its first settlers were the
sealers. In 1833 the remnants of the Tasmanian
Aborigines (a mere 160 people) were isolated on
the island in the misguided belief that they
would be protected from the rape and abuses of
the white settlers in Tasmania. This was not to
be. Aboriginal women were still raped;
Aboriginal men were still murdered. The soldiers
sent to guard the Aborigines combined with the
sealers who were left on the island and
continued the atrocities which the Aborigines
were supposedly being isolated from. By 1847 the
settlement had been deemed a failure and it was
duly abandoned and the remaining 45 Aborigines
were sent to Oyster Cove. 'Wybalenna Historic
Site' at Settlement Point on the western coast
of the island is a remnant of the original
settlement. The Wybalenna chapel, a simple
Georgian building with a wooden shingle roof,
still stands. There is an interesting museum in
nearby Emita and guided tours of the site are
available in Whitemark.
Within the next decade grazing leases were
established and an agriculture based on beef and
dairy cattle, sheep grazing for wool and fat
lambs, and a fishing industry were established.
It is of interest that while these industries
were being established it was until 1888 that
George Boyes became the island's first permanent
European settler.
In the 1950s soldier settlement schemes on
the island, particularly at Memena and Lackrana,
increased the population of the island and
greatly improved the island's agricultural
productivity.
In 1977 the Furneaux Fishing and Processing
Company was opened to strengthen the local
fishing industry.
One of the island's more unusual industries
is mutton-birding. The so-called 'muttonbird', a
short-tailed shearwater, has been caught for
commercial purposes since the early nineteenth
century. While early muttonbirding was excessive
and indiscriminate, more recently it has been
subject to stringent government controls.
The season lasts for a little over one month
(from 27 March to 30 April) and is largely
carried on as a family business. Young birds are
caught at the rookeries and, through a quite
elaborate process, are killed and processed for
their oil (which is used for pharmaceutical
purposes), their fat (which is sold to local
dairy farmers and used as a feed supplement),
their feathers (which are ideal as down in
upholstery) and their flesh, which is commonly
salt-cured and sold to the mainland. During
World War II they were actually canned and sold
in Britain as 'squab in aspic'.
Current research has monitored the muttonbird
population on the island to ensure that a proper
ecological balance is maintained. With a density
of up to 6 000 burrows to a hectare in a rookery
it is unlikely that low level culling will
seriously affect the population. In recent times
a sanctuary has been established on the island.
Airlines of Tasmania, offer daily RPT flights
from Launceston and services from Melbourne (
Moorabbin Airport) Mon, Weds & Fridays. Contact:
0362485490 and web address
www.airtasmania.com.au.
Things to see:
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Activities on the Island
Today Flinders Island is a popular tourist
destination. Its main appeal is for those who
enjoy fishing, bushwalking, or are interested in
the horrific history of the Tasmanian
Aborigines. The main town Whitemark, probably
named rather unimaginatively after a white
survey mark, is located south of the airport and
provides the visitor with all the necessary
facilities. Regular flights are offered by Air
Tasmania from Melbourne and Launceston.
The brochure Let's Talk About Flinders Island
is a useful additional guide for visitors to the
island.
