Senior Constable Stephan Pursell is Birdsville’s new, and only, police officer

AND it’s not just any beat. “The other day ... I had wild horses running down one side of the car, camels on the other and I was heading to an area where 10,000 pelicans were gathered along a waterway.”

IT was hot enough to melt the bitumen on the day Senior Constable Stephan Pursell arrived in his new home town, picking up the keys to the police station from the local servo.

It had taken him three days of driving, stopping briefly for a herd of cattle and a couple of emus, to get to Queensland’s loneliest police beat.

Sen-Constable Pursell, 51, is Birdsville’s new, and only, police officer. His patch is a 240,000 square kilometre expanse of desert and farmland — roughly the size of the United Kingdom.

Senior Constable Stephan Pursell at the bar of the famous Birdsville pub.

A city cop with 20 years experience, he put up his hand for the job despite never having visited the famous outback town. “It was an opportunity to work at one of the most iconic places in the country,” he said.

“The other day I was driving up to Bedourie, a neighbouring town 200km away, and at one point there I had a group of wild horses running down one side of the car, camels on the other side and I was heading into an area where 10,000 pelicans were gathered along a waterway.”

With a population of 100 people, Birdsville draws up to 7000 visitors for the annual racing carnival and also for the Big Red Bash.

Sen-Constable Pursell lives, with wife Sharon, in the police residence at the end of the main street — just down from the Birdsville Hotel.

Dune recovery ... traffic incidents are a bit different than for a city cop.

There’s an airstrip, a heritage-listed courthouse, post office, roadhouse, school and a well-stocked medical centre. At the Birdsville Bakery, locals and tourists can order a beer and sample pies filled with curried camel (Great Aussie Pie Competition winner, 2012), kangaroo or rabbit.

Sen-Constable Pursell said being the only officer in such a remote location called for an entirely different style of policing.

“You’re not just driving out looking for the next thing to go wrong,” he said. “You work with the community. You’re part of the community. People love coming into town to meet you. They love to chat.’’

When a motorcyclist came off his bike, suffering serious injuries, locals and tourists had the matter in hand by the time Sen-Constable Pursell had driven the 160km to the scene. “They’d set off in a group, so when it happened, one of them set off an EPIRB to call for help.

“Towns like this are great in an emergency. More travellers came along and took the rider to a nearby station and they looked after him until the Royal Flying Doctor Service arrived,’’ he said.