In short:
King Island, off the north-west coast of Tasmania, is well known for cheese, golf and clean air.
But with many of its main industries facing uncertain times, residents are contemplating what’s next for their future.
Young locals on the island told triple j hack about the challenges they faced staying there.
Local cheese maker Rowan Cooke was devastated when he heard King Island Dairy would be shutting down.
“I was, dare I say, a little bit emotional because the King Island Dairy is the economic backbone of the island,” he said.
“No-one wants to see the factory close — it’s such a big part of the King Island identity.
“You go travelling around Australia and I guarantee you most people know about King Island, know about the cheese, so it has been, like, a bit of a blow.”
“It’s not just a closure of the dairy — it’s like, people have to make assumptions on leaving, staying, do they buy a house here?”
Rowan Cooke hopes something can be done to keep the King Island Dairy open. (triple j hack: April McLennan)
The dairy has been operating for more than 120 years and employs about 60 people.
It has become a major brand, with its products available in major supermarkets nationwide.
In September the multinational company that owns the dairy, Saputo, announced it had been unable to find a buyer for King Island Dairy and would therefore close it in 2025.
Tasmania’s Premier Jermey Rockliff said the government is “becoming increasingly concerned” the company that owns King Island Dairy isn’t “committed to finding a buyer” to take over the business.
Mr Cooke said the dairy was a big motivator for young people to stay on the island.
“One reason why as a young person you would want to come to the island is work,” he said.
“Sure, we’ve got the surfing and we’ve got the lifestyle, but it needs some sort of economic backbone to back it up.”
“I think that’s one thing the island does need to focus on a bit; what opportunities can we actually provide to young people.”
Saputo owns a number of Australian dairy brands, including Cracker Barrel, Devondale, King Island Dairy and Mersey Valley. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
‘Full of dumb people’
The looming dairy closure is not the only industry facing uncertain times.
The island has been going through its worst drought on record, and in October the local mine was in placed in a share trading halt.
For many young people, it has raised doubts about their future on King Island.
It is something Kobi Bell, 22, has thought about a lot.
“Why a lot of young people actually leave the island is because there’s a stigma [that] if you stay on the island, you will become quite dumb and your education won’t progress,” he said.
“There’s a lot of jokes about the King Island school just being a place that is just full of dumb people.
“The people that have left the island have told me to leave the island as well because there’s nothing here.”
While Mr Bell does not buy into this rhetoric, he does think the island needs to show off what it has to offer.
“I guess you would think that [because] King Island cheese factory is closing, there’s probably not a lot of hope, but I think we can change that by creating new ideas,” he said.
“There’s so much opportunity here that it just takes the right person to actually see it and want to do something about it.”
The looming closure of King Island Dairy will impact the wider community. (triple j: April McLennan)
Australia’s shrinking towns
Country towns across Australia are shrinking, according to Elin Charles-Edwards, an associate professor of human geography at the University of Queensland
“If you go and look at some historic maps of regional centres around federation, so around the 1900s, there were hundreds more than what we see today,” she said.
“These were really small communities.”
Elin Charles-Edwards says a town’s demise can take a huge emotional toll on the community. (ABC News: Lily Nothling)
Dr Charles-Edwards said many factors were behind the loss of these regional towns, including young people moving away.
“It’s really difficult to keep young people in places if they’re not able to access education easily and meet their life goals,” she said.
“If they can’t get good work and they can’t access education, it’s really a big ask to have them stay.”
She said in the past, regional towns’ growth relied on jobs in big industries such as agriculture and mining.
But with the global economic situation shifting, the existence of these big employers was not always guaranteed, she said.
This can be a major hit for small towns and their futures.
“It matters to the residents of those communities, that’s for sure,” she said.
“You know, this notion of terminal decline of cities can have a really big emotional and social impact.”
About 1,700 people call King Island home. (triple j hack: April McLennan)
Future of the island
On King Island, Mr Cooke is trying to stay optimistic about the future.
“The dairy was a good outlet for younger people to carve a career in manufacturing or anything like that,” he said.
“But I think that’s where the island really has to look towards … what opportunities can they actually offer.
“We need to offer more than just surfing and beautiful beaches.”
Kobi Bell, who is a painter on King Island, says there are plenty of employment opportunities for young people. (triple j hack: April McLennan)
Mr Bell believes there are already plenty of opportunities available on the island for young people.
“I think a lot of the younger generation’s parents have this sort of mentality that staying on the island will get you nowhere, [that] there’s not a lot of opportunity on King Island, but it’s the complete opposite,” he said.
“Thinking in that way has created a blockage where they can’t see what is actually there in front of them.
“I believe that there’s so much on this island.”
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