Australian Story - Season 1 Episode 13

Pride of the Fleet: Commander Peter Sinclair is a navy man from a long line of navy men. For the past three years he has been overseeing the completion and commissioning of Australia's first home grown submarine, HMAS Collins. In a surprisingly candid self-portrait, Commander Sinclair and his wife Tania reveal the stresses and strains of navy life including the toll it has taken on their family life. The submarine went 18 months beyond its completion deadline but that's nothing compared with the overdue renovations on the Sinclair family bathroom. We get a real insight into navy life both for the families involved and for the close knit crew of the 'Collins'. Filmed in Adelaide, the story is introduced by retired Admiral Peter Sinclair, former Governor of NSW and father of Commander Sinclair. PLUS: A Place in the Sun: This second story is about a completely contrasting and yet still distinctly Australian community – the community of Tara west of Toowoomba. Once a quiet country town, Tara became the scene of one of the biggest rural sub-divisions in Australian history. Hundreds of families, most of them from the big cities on the east coast, have moved to Tara in the hope of dirt cheap land and a better life. We meet one of the descendants of the original pioneering families and learn of her horror when she found out about the sub-divisions. We also meet the "Blockies" to discover whether or not "going home to Tara" fulfilled their dreams.