Birdsville police, QLD: Single cop covers area as big as Britain

NO ONE to steal your lunch. No one to banter with during morning tea. And when it comes to office gossip or a beer with work mates on a Friday; forget it.

As the only person manning Birdsville Police Station, Senior Constable Stephan Pursell has become rather accustomed to his own company.

With his patrol area equivalent to the size of the UK, and residing in a town of just 100 people — Constable Pursell runs one of the most remote beats in Queensland.

Moving to Birdsville 18 months ago from the Sunshine Coast, Constable Pursell admits he wasn’t really sure what he’d signed up for when he said yes to the job.

Working in big cities across Victoria and Queensland, the 53-year-old hadn’t been to the remote town 1500km west of Brisbane before.

“I tried to visit here before taking the job but I never got an opportunity due to floods, believe it or not,” Sen-Constable Pursell told news.com.au.

“But I remember driving out here from the Sunshine Coast in February and it was extremely hot and I actually said to myself half way down the road ‘What have I done, have I made the right decision?’”

With a population of just 100 people, Sen-Constable Pursell — who lives with his wife, Sharon — said despite working alone, he doesn’t ever feel “lonely”.

“My wife does a few administration jobs here [in the office] and the house is next door so it’s not like I have to travel to work any distance,” he said.

“The community is great and there’s always somebody coming in for a chat or a cup of tea.

“So I haven’t felt the loneliness at all in the 18 months so that’s been really good.”

For Sen-Constable Pursell — a day on the plate isn’t like any other police job he’s had in his 22 year career.

As the only officer manning a patch that’s 240,000 square kilometre of desert and farmland — he never feels he can take a sickie or a day off.

“Being the only police officer here, you don’t really get time off,” he said.

“You work 8-4, but you go home at 4 and then the phone will ring. So you don’t really feel like you’ve had time off.”

“You’ve really got to leave town to get some time off.”

And that’s not easy either.

“We get annual leave like everybody else, but planning your holidays are just a little bit more important,” he said.

“I have a neighbouring station 200km north of here, and we cover each other. So we work on our holidays probably 12 months in advance.

Sen-Constable Pursell shot to fame earlier this year, when a video was filmed of the extreme heat in Birdsville.

Grabbing an egg and a frying pan, he was able to cook up a storm on the bonnet of his 4WD.

“The heat is extreme out here,” he said.

“People are aware of the outback but people don’t really understand it. And I was probably one of those coming out here.

“When you actually get out here and do see what trouble people can get in to and how quickly they can get in to trouble, you realise how people underestimate the outback.

“There’s a bit of a romantic thing with the outback, but it does need some preparation to go out there.”

While Sen-Constable Pursell says he’s only had a handful of arrests since starting, which are usually tourists passing through the area.

“You go to the bigger cities, Maroochydore, and down in Victoria. and there’s a lot of crime ... you’re just dealing with crime all the time,” he said.

“Here at Birdsville you get a lot of tourists come through, we had 50 or 60,000 tourists a year that will just drive through the town. So there’s always someone to talk to and help out.

“But the distance does deter the crime ... and it takes a little bit of effort and a bit of thought to get out here.

“So if you want to come out here to do wrong things, it’s a long way to come.”

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