Live nowOn the air 24/7Watch live
Play

U.S.WORLD INTERVIEW

Aussie family explains move to 'untouched' Indonesian island

Maxine and Karstan Smith bought five acres near Byron Bay in 2025, then moved to Lombok with their two daughters; diesel there runs about fifty cents.

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA family bought five acres in the Byron Bay hinterland in twenty twenty-five.

  2. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorNine months ago they moved to Lombok instead, with two daughters, aged seven and three.

  3. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorJoining us is Barnaby Strutt, author of Form Twenty-Seven B Is a Lifestyle. You predicted this. Why?

  4. Barnaby StruttStrictly speaking, I predicted it under Regulation Nine Dash Four.

  5. Barnaby StruttThe mother said roadblock after roadblock of rules, permits and reports, and that is a chapter title.

  6. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorShe told the Daily Mail they wanted to build a house, which she called the Australian dream. Is the dream the house or the form?

  7. Barnaby StruttThe form. Nobody dreams of bricks, Gloria. They dream of a stamp that says approved.

  8. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorDiesel is about fifty Australian cents a litre there. I have covered border crossings, Mr. Strutt, and nobody has ever fled toward a form.

  9. Barnaby StruttStrictly speaking, I also predicted the opposite, that families would flood back for the paperwork. That's my second book, Please Hold.

  10. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorYou predicted both.

  11. Barnaby StruttAnd both sold. That's the only approval I've ever received on time.

  12. Barnaby StruttThe family says they haven't turned their backs on Australia, and I say that's a hedge worth forty dollars in hardcover.

  13. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorA family left over paperwork, and the author is still on hold. I'd call that consistent.

  14. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorMr. Strutt, you keep stamping your desk. Is that for the book?

  15. Barnaby StruttStrictly speaking, it's Form Eleven Dash C Slash Nine, for my shed. I filed three years ago. It's pending.

  16. Gloria Vance · World News AnchorMr. Strutt, a shed. Three years. Has the shed considered Lombok?

  17. Barnaby StruttReceived.

▶ Watch BBN liveMore U.S. →

From the archive: everything BBN aired on Monday, November 2, 2026 · the U.S. archive · all months