The idea that the economic unviability of remote communities makes them unworthy of coastal support is not new. .John Flynn, who revolutionised outback life when he made the dream of ‘sky doctors’ a reality, successfully challenged this same idea using a radical inland-centric organisational governance structure which empowered an innovative publicity campaign which, combined with practical rather than theo/ideo-logical solutions to Inland problems, generated the moral, financial, public and private coastal support needed to make his ‘wild ideas’ come true. Though Flynn focussed exclusively on European Inlanders, insightful lessons from his success are applicable to today’s remote Aboriginal communities