a controversy enveloped the station 1 january 1912 when farmer, the operator of the station reported brief wireless contact with the macquarie island station of the australasian antarctic expedition immediately after the island being in communication with hms encounter. subsequently the encounter asserted that no such communication had occurred and the pmg made definitive statements to that effect. it was considered in the press that farmer had been the victim of a hoax. but farmer held to his statements. hotel australia was using telefunken equipment identical to that at macquarie island which was distinctive in note. also the two macquarie island wireless operators were charles albert sandell and arthur john sawyer. sandell was formerly a sydney experimenter while sawyer was, immediately prior to the expedition, was the chief operator at the hotel australia station. farmer would have been familiar with the "fist" (the distinctive operating style) of either operator, and on balance of evidence it does appear that the contact occurred, despite it being the height of summer in the southern hemisphere. farmer nevertheless promptly responded to macquarie island when a message was relayed from the rms ulimaroa to hotel australia, being a message from sawyer to his mother. p. farmer quickly established direct communication with macquarie island, which stated that they had been hearing hotel australia for some time. farmer provided a vast amount of australian news for the island's crew and indertook to provide daily updates henceforth.