Australia's Robinson Crusoe may be Forced to Leave Island
 

Australia's Robinson Crusoe may be Forced to Leave his Island Paradise

An Australian who has been living alone on a remote island for almost 20 years after losing his fortunes on the stock market is facing eviction from his solitary paradise.

By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney, August 2012


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David Glasheen, who is in his late 60s, moved to Restoration Island for peace and privacy after losing $AUS10m in the stock-market crash Photo: BRIAN CASSEY

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He settled there with a girlfriend, but she found life there too difficult Photo: BRIAN CASSEY

:rofl: :laff:


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His dog Quasi is his sole companion Photo: BRIAN CASSEY

A former business man, he abandoned a high-flying life in Sydney after losing $AUS10 million £6.5 million in the 1987 stock market crash and his marriage ended.

Mr Glasheen, who is now in his late 60s, said he revels in the tranquillity and privacy and has called himself as "the luckiest bloke in the world". He lives off fish and crab and collects bananas, coconuts and native fruit, as well as growing his own vegetables and brewing beer.

He has solar-powered internet access and still flutters on the stock market using an online trading account.

Though he tends to shun publicity, he made international headlines several years ago after he tried to find a partner on an online dating agency. He received hundreds of responses but had no luck.

"It gets lonely out here," he told a reporter at the time. "My only hope is for a mermaid to turn up on the beach."

However, Mr Glasheen's days as a self-imposed castaway may soon be about to end. He is facing eviction after a court ruled that he had failed to build a resort on the island – the condition on which he received access to the land.

According to a 43-year lease, which commenced in 1996, stated that he and a business partner should develop tourist accommodation and fishing facilities valued at least $AUS200,000. The Queensland Supreme Court has ruled that the land should be repossessed.

Mr Glasheen agreed to speak to The Daily Telegraph in the hope that it may help him find a lawyer to lodge an appeal. "This judgment was just horrible," he said by phone from Cairns, in northern Queensland, where he was meeting prospective lawyers.
Asked whether he had been given a date by which to vacate the island, he said: "I'm probably going to stay there. I'm sick of the courts."

Restoration Island is about 1,500 miles north of Brisbane in the Great Barrier Reef and was so named because Captain William Bligh and his followers found vital supplies there after being set adrift by mutineers aboard the HMS Bounty.

Mr Glasheen initially moved to the island with a girlfriend, but she found life there too difficult. He receives visits from passing yachtsmen and kayakers, as well as occasional groups of organic farmers. \

"It is a fabulous place, I am a lucky bloke to be there," he said. "I have learnt a huge amount. I started to value what is really important. Trust, honesty, respect – simple things. I have learnt that you can do things with very little. You soon learn in the bush to survive. If you don't you die pretty quickly."

On his website for the island, Mr Glasheen claims he has received approvals to develop a resort and invites investors interested in funding a project which could include private guesthouses and a health spa.
But the court ruled that Mr Glasheen and his business partners were "trespassers" and must vacate the land.
"The defendants have wrongly deprived the plaintiff of its asset for over a decade during which time they have enjoyed its benefits," the court said.
Asked what he would do if he has to leave the island, he said:

"I have no idea. I don't think about that sort of stuff. I live on now. Tomorrow I might be dead."

Re: Australia's Robinson Crusoe may be Forced to Leave Island
 

He's been there for 20 years? I would think that would qualify him to be termed 'permanent resident'.

Of course some owner is trying to move him off. Bad for business and been like a thorn to get removed.

He is doing what is known as living off the grid in the most literal way. Nothing to trace, nothing to track. No modern day conveniences either.

I have no idea how high up this photo was taken but it looks like a determined individual could swim or raft it over to the main land if he so wished.

Re: Australia's Robinson Crusoe may be Forced to Leave Island
 

20 yrs in not long enough to quality for Land Rights.
Mabo had lived on his Island for something like 5 generations, and they (the clan) had their own legal and civil systems in place.
.
And yes it looks like a good swim to the Island. You can see a yacht to the right of the Island. So it the yacht is say 10 metres long, it looks like the water gap could be maybe a kilometre wide (5/8 mile).

Re: Australia's Robinson Crusoe may be Forced to Leave Island
 

SEE you can't even find peace in this corrupt world.

What state has done this and when????

I might go for a big swim!!!!

Re: Australia's Robinson Crusoe may be Forced to Leave Island
 

Anyone can say they are Aboriginal Baz, they have to prove you aren't.