The First Lady of Smithton Radio Base

With a father who served in the Royal Navy during WW1 and an emigration to Australia that involved a Sunderland Flying Boat, overnight stops throughout the Middle East, snake charmers, a sunset over a glass palace and a bird’s-eye view of the hundreds of tribes arriving to the first Middle East Conference in October 1947, Mary Kay is not easily rattled. An excellent quality to possess when you’re the founder of Smithton Radio Base, the coastal radio network around Tasmania, covering half of the north and west coasts ― from Badger Head, near Georgetown, to the Pieman River on the rugged west coast of Tasmania.

The day after Mary’s family landed in Australia in 1947, they flew to Tasmania to set up a working farm in the remote community of Nabageena, aboriginal for ‘Sunny Hills’.

‘My father had decided to take up farming, that is how we came to live at Circular Head… It was a big cultural shock for me, I went from a school of a couple of hundred children to nine children!’, Mary said.

Mary began her (entirely voluntary) career in radio 20 years ago when her husband purchased a yacht and gave her two old VHF radios. She got her ‘start’ when the local yacht club asked her to take their times as they raced. From there, fishermen began letting her know when they were out fishing on the harbour and it grew from there. It quickly became apparent that, due to bad VHF reception, the radios needed to be replaced.

After a lot of lobbying, Mary received a $32,000 grant from the Tasmanian Government to install a repeater station on Three Hammock Island with Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) installing it for use. The resulting communications improved service and the safety rate across the whole district.

With the new radios came more responsibility and an increased workload. Mary began broadcasting weather reports and observations for the west coast, including any active warnings. This generated quite a following with the locals, leading many people to speak with Mary about the weather conditions before launching their boats for the day.

She began to work with Australian Customs and take part in all search and rescue operations in the area saying, ‘I think the organisation of search and rescue in Tasmania is amazing. We have an efficient unit with the Westpac Rescue helicopters, the Marine Search and Rescue Police units.’

Mary has been part of too many rescues to list but there are some that have struck a chord with her. She was part of the rescue of three elderly men who got into trouble in their yacht in the middle of Bass Strait. Being no strangers to marine rescues ― these men had been rescued no less than three times previously ― they contacted Mary to advise their boat was taking on water.

Mary immediately called the rescue service in Victoria who made it to the men at the very last minute rescuing them as their yacht sank beneath them. It was their last big trip together, preferring solid ground after their latest misfortune. A few months after the rescue, one of the men’s sons rang to advise Mary that his father had passed away. Before passing he had made a specific request to contact Mary at Smithton Radio to thank her for all her assistance during his rescues over the years.

Drew Oakden, a Westpac Helicopter Service Search and Rescue Officer, has worked with Mary on countless occasions over the past 10 years. He recalls the time when 50 sperm whales got stranded at the mouth of the Duck River, perishing despite repeated attempts to rescue them and push them further out to sea.

Mary presided over the flotilla of vessels that went both in aid of the stranded whales and to look at the unusual and sad spectacle. He recalls, ‘Mary remained a constant, steady force on the radio both during the events unfolding and in the weeks after.’

It is this constant and steady nature that people have come to know and appreciate. Over time she has been the recipient of multiple awards, marking her service to the marine industry over the past 20 years. She was named Australian of the Year, Tasmania, Local Hero in 2015 and has been named in the Who’s who of Australian Women in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. She was also named on the honour roll for Tasmanian Women in 2015.

Mary has written three books on the history of her local area with one of her books, Tin Can Heroes: Max Grey’s Story as told to Mary Kay being on display at the Australian War Memorial.

Along with all of her marine achievements, she has maintained a family and helps run the family’s dairy and beef farm ― a farm that has been in her husband’s family for five generations. She works there with her husband, two sons and grandson, along with having a daughter living and working in Hobart.

Mary is characteristically blasé about her achievements over the years, rising at 6 am every day to oversee the day-to-day running of the farm and Smithton Radio. Her proudest achievement to date is the belief that there are 10 men alive today who wouldn’t be had it not been for her.

‘The way I look at it, I’m like a link in a chain, sometimes you play a small part, sometimes it’s a large part. You are not just one individual performing on your own, we are all links in a chain which makes a successful team effort. We are all aiming for the same result, which is the safety of the people we are trying to rescue.’