Tasmania’s remote Picnic Island, near Coles Bay, has hit the market after nearly two decades of ownership

Tasmania’s remote Picnic Island has hit the market after nearly two decades of ownership by entrepreneur Clem Newton-Brown.

Picnic Island has a desalination plant, solar hot water and power with a backup 5kVA generator, and water tanks with more than 50,000 litres of storage.

Tasmania’s remote Picnic Island, just off the coast from the world-famous Saffire Freycinet Resort near Coles Bay, has hit the market after nearly two decades of ownership by entrepreneur Clem Newton-Brown.

“Our family has had some amazing experiences on Picnic Island. It is a stunningly beautiful and wild escape which is great for kids to be taken out of their comfort zone and connect with nature,” said Mr Newton-Brown, adding that the island, which is 800m offshore from the five-star Saffire Freycinet resort, had attracted many celebrity guests.

Mr Newton-Brown said there were 4000 islands off Tasmania but Picnic Island, around two and a half hours drive north of Hobart, was unique because it had no Crown reserve and was freehold title to the high water mark.

Picnic Island is 800m offshore from the five-star Saffire Freycinet resort.

“Owning an island comes with many challenges but all the hard work has been done on Picnic Island,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“We are fully set up with everything you need for off-grid living.

“Over the summer months it is as good as anything you will find in the Mediterranean, with crystal-clear water and abundant seafood – crayfish, abalone, mussels, squid, flathead can all be caught off the island.

“The island is no less special during winter, where you can get some incredible crisp and still days in between hunkering down with a bottle of wine by the suspended fireplace, keeping an eye out for passing whales.

“Our penguin colony is the star of the show, and most guests will write in our guest book about the amazing experiences they had viewing the penguins coming back to their burrows at night,” said Mr Newton-Brown, a former Victorian politician who is marketing the island through Knight Frank Hobart agents Scott Newton and Sothebys International agent Rob Curtain via an expression of interest campaign. Mr Newton-Brown would not put a price on the island.

The island is easily accessible in most weather.

He said permits were in place for commercial operations and the island would be sold as a going concern with all business assets.  

He said there was easy access to the island in most weather and it was more usable than most other Tasmanian islands, which were cut off in many weather conditions.

“This is the best and prettiest coastline in Tasmania with Wineglass Bay nearby,” he said.

Picnic Island was being sold with two boats and three moorings for up to 12m boats, Mr Newton-Brown said.

The property, adjacent to Freycinet National Park, is being sold on a walk in, walk out basis with a desalination plant, solar hot water, off-grid solar power with backup 5kVA generator, eight water tanks with more than 50,000 litres of storage.

The property also has permits for visitor accommodation and holding small functions.

The fully furnished property has five bedrooms, wireless broadband, a jetty, two commercial tinnies and commercial boat operations business approvals.

It also has permits for visitor accommodation and holding small functions such as wedding ceremonies.

Mr Newton-Brown, a barrister and previously the member for Prahran, said he used the island as a family camping retreat until 2015 when he got approval to build.

It took two years to build the accommodation and he started taking guests between his family visits from 2017.

He believes the island would be suitable as a private retreat for personal use or could suit a tourism visionary who wanted to build an aquatic and island nature experience.

“We are a multi-award winning, five-star Trip Advisor-rated accommodation for private bookings, but there is potential to develop the island into a multi-day hosted experience, which is what Tasmania is famous for,” said Mr Newton-Brown, adding that Tasmania had 4000 islands but only nine were private freehold.

Originally published as Tasmania’s remote Picnic Island, near Coles Bay, has hit the market after nearly two decades of ownership