George Mye is the leader of the island community and representative of the Eastern Island Group which, for nearly 30 years, is under the paternal control of the Queensland Government. In the original A BIG COUNTRY George was a man successfully playing off State and Federal Governments to get the most of what he could for his people, struggling for what the Islanders wanted most: independence to control their destinies. Twenty-five years on he has got what he wanted: an airport, major infrastructure like roads, even cheap low rent public housing. Yet, ironically, his success has been their undoing as now the Islanders are locked in a land-rights battle with the Queensland Government.