In for John Flynn

The Friends of John Flynn Place unveiled a new video called “Mantle of Safety” named for Flynn’s vision of a mantle of safety across the outback which showed footage from the 1950s and 60s about the early use of the flying doctor service in north-west Queensland.

Special guest Everald Compton launched the video and also used the occasion to launch his book The Man on the Twenty Dollar Notes, a biography about John Flynn, whom he called a great Australian.

“One of the reasons I’m pleased it is here in Cloncurry is this is where the first pedal radio message was sent around 1907 from here to Augusta Downs station,” Mr Compton said.

“It was the equivalent in those days of the advent of broadband now, that’s how important it was.”

Mr Compton said John Flynn gave away the design of the radio to the British Army.

“Everyone at the time though John Flynn was a bit mad but everything he did, he did without any money – he believed the money would come in,” he said.

“People would say to him ‘are there airstrips where you want to land?’ and he’d say no and they’d say ‘well, where are you going to land’ and he said ‘we’ll land on a road’ and they said ‘what if there is no road?’ and he said ‘well, we’ll find a paddock’, so you could imagine the Qantas board having a panic about that.”

Mr Compton said Flynn was a nation builder.

“What Australia needs is a few more John Flynns and I hope there is one in the crowd here,” he said.

Friends of John Flynn Place’s Don McDonald said they appreciated the generosity of Everald and Helen Compton who paid for the new exhibit and also have helped out the centre in other ways.

“They have given a significant amount of money to John Flynn Place over the years,” Mr McDonald said.

Entertainer Ted Egan was also on hand to sing a song he wrote about Flynn.

New Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell said the event capped off a good week having been sworn into office the previous Tuesday.