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Posted: 2023-06-25 19:59:42

With headlines like Supermarkets Urged To Rename New Avocado Variety So It Doesn't Sound Like A Vibrator in reference to GMax Avocados, the team at The Betoota Advocate is fluent in sarcasm. 

The satirical website is edgy and fun, and while it purports to share the contents of "Australia's oldest newspaper", it has only been on social media since 2014.

It launched its website prior to that, and claims to "prints its best stories". 

And although the Advocate is named after the outback Queensland town of Betoota, it has its headquarters in Sydney.

So, what do the people of Betoota make of all of this?

The Mayor of Diamantina Shire Council (in which Betoota sits), Robbie Dare, loves the ingenuity of both the editor-at-large who goes by the pseudonym Errol Parker and the editor whose pseudonym is Clancy Overell.

"I thought it was brilliant the fact that someone has done that," Cr Dare said.

"And it sort of puts Betoota back on the map. What they do definitely highlights Betoota. It's got to be a big help for the business there. Good on 'em."

No-one actually lives in Betoota. Cr Dare said there had not been any houses in the town since long before he was born.

"[There's] not much left in Betoota now," he said.

"It's just the pub, which was built in about 1884 and the new owner has been there five or six years.

The outback pub was abandoned for about 25 years before it was bought by a new owner who renovated it. ()

"But back in the heyday, there was a customs house and a police station, a few private dwellings, mainly camps made out of corrugated iron and bush timber.

"There was a bit of a school there. It wouldn't have been a proper state government-built school but in those days they'd put a school in anywhere – in the hall or any existing building that wasn't getting utilised each day."

Betoota is in need of funding

Cr Dare said Betoota was in need of funding for sealed roads to make the area safer.

"It's probably halfway between Birdsville and Windorah, and that's a good time for people to pull up so there's less fatigue because 400k is a fair stretch without having a break.

"So, it's in the ideal spot, and as the mayor of the shire I'm always trying to get funding for that road because a lot of tourists cover that road and we really need overtaking lanes because there's so much dust and hills and it just gets dangerous.

"Betoota is our place that needs a lot of help. They keep saying the main towns have got bitumen. But Betoota hasn't."

Wayne Wilshire is known as Sauce after his golfing buddies changed his surname by association to Worcestershire.

Sauce calls himself a roustabout at the only structure left in Betoota  the Betoota Hotel.

There are rooms at the Betoota hotel with visitors passing through. But there are no permanent residences.()

Sauce thinks there's a clear reason why the Betoota Advocate bears that name.

"I think they picked the name because they knew no-one would sue them," he said.

"They saw the population of Betoota was zero and they thought, 'Well, no-one's gonna get their noses out of joint in Betoota.'

"And we actually love it because it's great publicity for us."

Sauce says Parker and Overell were welcomed with open arms when they visited Betoota.()

Traditional Owners are on board too. The general manager of the Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation, Joshua Gorringe, also refers to the Advocate in glowing terms.

"I think it has had a positive impact as far as I can see," he said.

"Lots of people are interested in the place and where it is [because of the Betoota Advocate]."

He said the only thing stopping people from moving to Betoota was the lack of infrastructure.

"There are a number of Mithaka people wanting to move to the area," he said.

"But due to the high cost of building and lack of government support or assistance this will be highly unlikely."

'We're Australia's Parramatta'

Parker and Overell only ever do interviews in character, with Overell telling ABC News Betoota is home to the Advocate because of its proximity to capital cities across the nation.

"We're about 20 hours from Sydney, 20 hours from Brisbane, a bit over 20 hours from Melbourne," he said.

"Our closest capital is Adelaide. We're in Queensland. We're not far from the Territory. But basically, we're Central. So, we're Australia's Parramatta is a way of putting it."

Clancy Overell and Errol Parker star in the new series The Betoota Advocate Presents.()

Australians love The Betoota Advocate, which has amassed a million followers on Instagram.

"We're up there with the bikini models," Overell said.

The Betoota Advocate Presents

The latest venture for the newspaper is a move into television, with a new series on Paramount+ called The Betoota Advocate Presents.

There are four 45-minute episodes in season one – each canvassing a different topic – covering religion, sport, racism and gambling.

"We've basically covered the four pillars of the Australian constitution," Parker quipped.

Guests include Puberty Blues co-author Kathy Lette (The Cronulla Riots), former professional footy star Wendell Sailor (The Super League War), politician Bob Katter (Fine Cotton: Australia's Biggest Racing Scandal) and former congregants from Australia and overseas (The Rise and Fall of Hillsong).

Each episode provides a unique take on stories that have garnered a lot of media coverage.

"Australia is this nation that has kind of had very good PR the whole time it's been around until something like the Cronulla Riots happens and you think, well, is there a bit more going on behind the scenes in Australia?" Overell said.

The Betoota Advocate Presents is rolling out on Paramount+ on Wednesdays, with the first two episodes available to stream now.

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