I am just as ordinary as anyone else, and I also have my problems, but I also am responsible for my own health. So I'll be on that exercise bike, I'll be out there walking and try to improve my health and diet as much as I'm expecting of other Tasmanians.

I never thought that I would become a staple in the Australian cultural diet. The equivalent of bread or milk, or a fine old Tasmanian Mauve Vein. I think it's because I talk about things that people dare not mention. I don't mean raunchy things or unsavoury things. I call a spade a spade - I discuss things in a realistic manner.

Tasmanian history is a study of human isolation unprecedented except in science fiction - namely complete isolation from other humans for 10 000 years.