Hi Chris,
Sorry to hear about the mess.
It's funny by comparison how here in the suburbs of Sydney, every second shop seems to sell nothing but telephones.
Indeed, you can buy phones online from retailers such as Dick Smith or from Telstra online.
For example, see
http://www.telstra.com.au/shop/Consu...pageView=image
Long gone are the days where you leased the handset from Telstra and they would come and replace it.
These days, the equipment belonging to the customer is the norm. With the constant turnover of
new models these days, it is almost impossible to make specific recommendations. If your shed is
very close to the house, you might consider upgrading the phone in the house to a wireless base station
and then just keep a handset in the shed (i.e what are known as DECT systems). The better ones tend
to have longer transmit ranges and you can simply add extra handsets, up to a limit, and locate them
at any convenient point in the house where there is a power outlet to keep them charged.
If you still have one of the original style handsets that did not require external power, but simply
derived its power from the phone line (getting very rare these days) and it is in working order,
keep it convenient in the cupboard. Then if there is a power outage, you can swap the phone
over and make a call.