Distance, Drought & Dispossession

Distance, Drought & Dispossession: A History of the Northern Territory Pastoral Industry

Glen McLaren and William Cooper

This history of the Northern Territory pastoral industry outlines how, for almost a century, cattlemen were subject to the tyrannies of distance and drought. Distance vitally affected time and cost of travel, income and quality of life. Similarly, geographic and environmental factors - especially drought - determined stocking rates, created mustering problems and affected the quality of livestock turned off, and overall profitability. This book then describes how, with the end of the packhorse era in the 1960s and 1970s, and the introduction of aerial mustering, two-way radios and satellite communications, Beef Roads and road trains, and efficient and economical water boring equipment, cattlemen gained much greater control over their operations. The authors consider, however, that Land Rights, which are the consequence of Aboriginal dispossession, will continue to affect pastoral operations for the foreseeable future.

Published by Northern Territory University Press with the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage, Curtin University.