“The Pilot’s Wife” and Hosting Tourism on Magnetic Island: A Memoir and Autoethnographic Enquiry of Place, Self and Narrative within Structures of Authority and Power

Abstract

This thesis (exegesis and creative work, a memoir) draws on my experience of establishing a floatplane business with my husband Paul on Magnetic Island within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It describes events prior to and including an Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearing in 2007 on the legality of the floatplane operations within the Marine Park. The study provides new information about the composition of tourism communities in Australia, causes of conflicts and resolution processes.