Back Roads: Cunnamulla, QLD with Outback Tom (ABC TV Monday 31 July 2023)

Back Roads: Cunnamulla, QLD with Outback Tom airs Monday 31 July 2023 on ABC TV

What can we expect from this episode

Back Roads this week heads to Cunnamulla, a small town in southwestern Queensland. Tom Forrest, a young Yorta Yorta man, will be the special guest host. ‘Outback Tom’ has amassed a sizable TikTok following thanks to his adventures into bush cooking and other antics with his grandfather.

Tom hits the road and comes across a town that is doing its best to move past its troubled history. Cunnamulla, once a segregated and controversial town, is undergoing a remarkable transformation.

Tom meets Uncle Andrew Nelson, a local artist and Kooma man, who helps him confront painful truths about his family’s history while also demonstrating the power of creativity and individual agency in mending emotional wounds.

Tom gets a firsthand look at how the youth of Cunnamulla are being given a leg up through sports when he faces off against the members of the Cunnamulla Junior League.

The Queensland Police Service isn’t immune to the bridge-building trend either. How many cities have police who drive cars that are so covered in graffiti that even adults can’t read them? Tom meets Nik van Niekek, a police liaison officer, and rides along with him in his beloved car, which is used to help local teenagers accumulate their required number of learner driving hours.

Tom tries out the regional speciality of a camel burger and chats with James Clark, publisher of one of Australia’s last remaining independent newspapers. James, who also tends to sheep, puts Tom to work mustering on a motorcycle and even teaching him how to shear. Is ‘Outback Tom’ capable of living up to his TikTok moniker?

Back Roads transports audiences to some of the nation’s most remote and inspiring communities that highlight rural Australia’s trademark grit, generosity, humour and innovation. Each week award-winning ABC journalist, Heather Ewart, who grew up on a sheep and wheat farm in Victoria, uncovers corners of Australia where misfortune has brought some to their knees, but imagination, faith and fun has lifted them back up.

Season 9 Episode 13

When can we see the episode

Back Roads: Cunnamulla, QLD with Outback Tom airs Monday 31 July 2023 at 20:00 on ABC TV

Featured image credit: ABC TV