Anna Creek Station is the world's largest working
cattle station
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stat ...
. It is located in the Australian state of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
Description
Anna Creek Station has an area of which is slightly larger than
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. It is larger than its nearest rival,
Alexandria Station in the country's
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
. It is over seven times the size of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
' biggest
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
,
King Ranch
King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the state of Rhode Island and country of Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault.
The ranch is lo ...
in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, which is .
The station is arid pastoral country.
As of 16 December 2016, the station is owned by the
Williams Cattle Company, a family business that bought Anna Creek from
S. Kidman & Co, doubling their total area held under
pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Australia
Pastoral lease ...
s.
The nearest township is
William Creek (which is surrounded by the Anna Creek station), but the nearest town for freight is
Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is ...
.
History
The property was originally established in 1863 but moved to its current location in 1872. It was originally used for sheep, but due to losses from
dingo
The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (Basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage of dog found in Australia (continent), Australia. Its taxonomic classification is de ...
attacks, they switched to cattle.
The land occupying the extent of the Anna Creek Station pastoral lease was gazetted as a locality by the Government of South Australia on 26 April 2013 with the name 'Anna Creek'.
Anna Creek in the 2000s
Despite its size, in 2007 Anna Creek Station was carrying only 1,500 head of cattle due to the
2000s drought. In 2008, when the station was owned by
S. Kidman and Co Ltd, there were eight full-time staff and they were destocking all their cattle.
Following floods in 2010, conditions improved and the station restocked. It had 10,000 head of cattle in May 2011 and is capable of carrying up to 16,500 head of cattle during a good season.
They raise
Santa Gertrudis cattle
The Santa Gertrudis is an American list of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle. It is a taurine-indicine hybrid breed, descended from both zebu and European cattle. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Texas, and received official recog ...
as they are suitable for hot, dry climates.
In mid April 2016, it was announced that the South Australian cattle company Williams Cattle Company was to acquire Anna Creek from S Kidman & Co, subject to approval by the
Foreign Investment Review Board
The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), "examines proposals by foreign persons to invest in Australia and makes recommendations to the Treasurer on those subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Australia's for ...
of the sale of the remainder of the Kidman holding to a consortium led by the Chinese group Dakang Australia Holdings.
Federal Treasurer
Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...
blocked the sale later that month, in the national interest. Anna Creek is located in a weapons testing range. Morrison had previously blocked the sale of Kidman to related Chinese company, Pengxin Group.
In December, Anna Creek was finally sold to the South Australian family business Williams Cattle Company, at an estimated $16 million, while the rest of the Kidman empire was sold to a consortium comprising mining magnate
Gina Rinehart
Georgina Hope Rinehart (née Hancock, born 9 February 1954) is an Australian mining magnate and businesswoman. Rinehart is the Executive Chairman of Hancock Prospecting, a privately owned mineral exploration and extraction company founded by ...
's
Hancock Prospecting
Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd is a leading Australian owned mining and agricultural business run by Executive Chairman Gina Rinehart and CEO Garry Korte. At stages of its trading, the company has been known as Hancock Prospecting Ltd, Hancock Reso ...
, owning 67%, and the Chinese company Shanghai CRED, owning 33%.
The Williams family planned to invest heavily in new waters and trucking yards in order to facilitate an increase in the number of stock carried on the station.
Life at Anna Creek
There is a main
homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
at Anna Creek and an
outstation at The Peake. Although the homesteads are very isolated, they have satellite telecommunications including television and internet. The
Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run
The Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run is a 4WD mail service in the outback of South Australia.
Twice a week, the OKA 4wd, OKA bus travels from Coober Pedy to William Creek to Oodnadatta and then back to Coober Pedy, on unsealed roads. Th ...
delivers mail twice a week and can bring a small amount of freight.
The Peake Ruins
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, including those of a former telegraph office, cemetery, mine site and lime kilns at the outstation, are listed on the
South Australian Heritage Register
The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...
. The
Strangways Springs Telegraph Station Ruins Strangways is a surname, and may refer to:
* A. H. Fox Strangways (Arthur Henry Fox Strangways 1859–1948), a music critic who wrote for ''The Observer''
* Henry Strangways (Henry Bull Templar Strangways 1832–1920), aka H.B.T Strangways, lawye ...
on the station are also listed on the Heritage Register.
Once there was a large workforce of
stockmen at Anna Creek, who
mustered the cattle on horses. Today light aircraft are used for spotting animals which are rounded up by stockmen riding motorbikes, requiring a much smaller workforce.
See also
*
List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
West Africa
* Obudu Cattle Ranch
* S ...
*
List of the largest stations in Australia
This is a list of the largest stations in Australia, which includes stations with an area in excess of .
All of the largest pastoral leases are located in the states of South Australia (SA), Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA); or in the ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Creek Station
Stations (Australian agriculture)
Pastoral leases in South Australia
Far North (South Australia)
1863 establishments in Australia
Lime kilns in Australia