Introduction

In the 1970’s Eric White became the latter-day pioneer of the Australian tea tree industry. Convinced of its applications in modern society, Eric chose the alternately floodwashed and drought-baked Bungawalbyn Swamp, near Coraki in northern NSW, for his first crops. After four years of painstaking research and lobbying, a crown lease was granted.

It arrived on a Thursday in 1976….this is the day Thursday Plantation was born.

Sadly, after several years of planting, harvesting and distilling his tea tree in the harsh bush, his health failed. But the trees flourished and demand grew. An unfortunate occurrence for his step-son Christopher Dean helped continue Eric’s dream of introducing the power of the plants into homes throughout the world.

This is the story of Thursday Plantation...

In 1978, Christopher Dean was trekking overland through Africa with a group of Australians. Somewhere on this adventure, Christopher contracted a severe infection in his toenail.

After 5 months of trying to get rid of this infection using the knowledge of pharmacists and doctors as well as folk medicine and witch doctor recipes from around the world, Christopher was advised by the London School of Tropical Medicine that the infection was incurable.

The only known treatment involved surgical removal of the toenails and the infected tissue, followed by a severe caustic preparation to attempt to inhibit any regrowth.

Help arrived from Australia via his brother Michael Dean, who had recently arrived in London on a business trip. Michael had brought some precious drops of Australian Tea Tree Oil, renowned through folklore and from Aboriginal medicine and early scientific discoveries, as an outstanding healing oil. The oil was produced by their step-father, Eric White.

Within ten minutes of applying the oil, the intense itching and agonising pain which had caused bleeding all around the feet started to lessen. Within 4 hours the swelling of the toes and the redness had subsided to a near normal colour. Within 4 days there was a total remission of all symptoms and the feet were completely healed. Christopher realised his step-father had an extraordinary product on his hands.

Now that Christopher had discovered for himself the unique and remarkable value of Tea Tree Oil, he decided to rejoin his step-father Eric. On phoning Australia to tell Eric about his decision, he found that Eric had suffered a major heart attack and was in hospital, in intensive care with all hope of completing his project doomed.

So, with little more than a handful of clothes, Chris and his wife Lynda moved to the wilds of Bungawalbyn. They had no home, nor any money. Their first house was built from the scrounged remnants of a timber scrap heap and what could be found from the local tip.

The plantation was 17 kilometres from the nearest mail service and an equal distance from a telephone. There was no power or running water, and the land was regularly inundated and cut off, sometimes for weeks at a time by the awesome floods of the region. Yet here Christopher could feel the magic in the trees.

Here was the largest and most majestic of the medicinal Tea Trees. Taking the seed and following the careful planning of his step-father, Christopher continued the work Eric had started. And the very first plantation of Australian Melaleuca alternifolia was laid down.

The Deans started to produce Tea Tree Oil from a traditional bush cutting method. By now they had realised that only a handful of people really understood the true value of this oil. The Deans became obsessed with the mission of bringing Australian Tea Tree Oil to the world - a safer alternative and a renewable resource.

Driven by this obsession, they started to sell their Tea Tree Oil at local markets. People quickly discovered the remarkable results for psoriasis, sores, eczema and rashes and also everyday problems such as cuts, stings, burns, pimples and vaginal infections. The response was overwhelming.

Recognising that they couldn’t do this alone without funds, and also the importance of creating this product for the whole world, the Deans established the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association and lobbied the government to get involved in supporting research and building up awareness of the wonder and value of Australian Tea Tree Oil. The Australian government got behind them with agricultural research, followed by detailed scientific studies on the applications of the oil.

Thursday Plantation bought degraded cattle and sugar farmlands to establish sustainable and ecologically-sound tea tree production in 1988. The Ballina factory distilled its first oil in 1989 and scientists began work in the Research and Development laboratories in 1990.

The oil was delivered to Los Angeles, Vancouver, Dallas, London and on through Sweden, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. Within a few short years, 20 countries had come to learn of the remarkable properties of Australian Tea Tree Oil. At the same time tens of millions of trees were now being planted and a magnificent sustainable industry was now underway returning hundreds of millions of trees to the native lands. At last we had begun to reverse the previous 200 years of deforestation of the Tea Tree.

Today, Thursday Plantation is part of Integria Healthcare, a leader in science based natural healthcare. Thursday Plantation products are sold throughout health food stores and pharmacies in Australia and internationally.