At the risk of stirring up Alan M I know several farmers (some very well) who claim to have seen big cats in an area about 40km from where I live .
One claims to have chased a pair of puma - sized , gold coloured cats across a paddock with his quad bike in broad daylight in 1995 and says he got within 15 metres before they leapt over a fence and escaped into the bush . He is not the type of guy who appreciates undue attention .
Another middle aged farmer's wife (and her 2 grandsons) that I know quite well also claims to have seen a big cat in broad daylight . She is quite religious and one of the last people I would expect to invent this type of story .
Another farmer friend recently bought a high powered rifle the morning after seeing a large cat stalking a mob of sheep only a few hundred metres from his house .
These are 3 of about 10 reports that I am aware of that come from an area within about 10km of a quite large nature reserve . None of them have made it to the press as those involved haven't wanted to be labelled as kooks .
Some interesting stuff on Google if you do a search on big cats under pages from Australia .
I have little doubt that there are numerous false reports of big cat sightings but am keeping an open mind at this point .