On 11 April 2011, shortly before the Dig Tree Anniversary, Dave Phoenix, President of the Burke and Wills Historical Society, sent the following information by email:

"In May 2009 at the Burke and Wills Historical Society Conference at the Royal Society of Victoria in Melbourne, we nominated the Dig Tree as the venue for our next gathering. Given the great response and interest in Burke and Wills 150th Commemoration events through Victoria in the second half of last year, we made plans for a significant event to be held at the Dig Tree this month. We drew up a list of dignitaries to invite, we made plans for a walk into the Dig Tree from Burke’s last camp on the way back from the Gulf, we planned a formal dinner at Burke’s grave for 150 people, we arranged to
meet with the Royal Historical Society of Queensland for a chat and a Q&A session, we planned a live outside broadcast on ABC Radio National with Michael Cathcart of the Bush Telegraph program, and we all looked forward to the opportunity to have a few days out bush, socialising with good friends who share a common interest in Australian history. The Royal Society of Victoria offered to support our event and provide their cut-out ‘explorers’ art installation, SK Holdings (Kidman’s) graciously allowed us to have a separate campsite near the Dig Tree specifically for the event, Bulloo Shire Council offered help to promote and support the event, and SANTOS operations at Ballera offered to assist in providing potable water and ablutions.

The Burke and Wills Historical Society committee worked incredibly hard planning all this, especially Richard who answered the many enquiries and kept us all informed via email. The committee had regular teleconference meetings and
we made several attempts to get to the Dig Tree for a reconnaissance. However despite all our good intentions and enthusiastic offers of help, the weather got the better of us. I would like to thank the committee for their efforts, and thank everyone who offered to help and who showed an interest. It is a pity that we are not able to hold the event we had originally envisaged to commemorate this important historic occasion."

The weather Dave refers to was the exceptional rainfall in Queensland in the preceding six months which filled creeks and rivers in outback Queensland and brought water all the way to Lake Eyre. On the way the water made most of the access roads in the area impassable. On the day, it was not possible to reach the Dig Tree campsite by road, but despite this, a few hardy souls, Dave included, waded through a creek and walked the rest of the way just to Be There on the Day. Those who made it were much moved by Dave's impromptu speech. Read an account... and watch this space for some pictures.

All those involved in the Commemoration Program sympathise with Dave and the Society and regret that, despite careful planning and much hard work, they could not stage their conference as planned. Congratulations to those who demonstrated Burke-like toughness to be there anyway.