StateLibQld 1 78893 Austral Downs Station homestead, ca

StateLibQld 2 75006 Cattle on Avon Downs Station, Northern Territory, 1939

Austral Downs Station most commonly known as Austral Downs is a cattle station on the Barkly Tableland in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, Australia. It is situated approximately west of

Camooweal Camooweal is an outback town and locality in the City of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the Queensland border with the Northern Territory. In the , the locality of Camooweal had a population of 208 people. Geography The l ...

and north west of

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, base ...

Description

The Station occupies an area of and has a carrying capacity of approximately 42,000 head of Santa Gertrudis crossed with

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

crossed with

Wagyu Wagyu ( ja, 和牛, Hepburn: ''wagyū'', ) is the collective name for the four principal Japanese breeds of beef cattle. All wagyū cattle derive from cross-breeding in the early twentieth century of native Japanese cattle with imported sto ...

cattle. The station is run by the

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) () is a public-listed Australian company that, as at 2018, owned and operated feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's la ...

in combination with Avon Downs with an area of ; together the properties turn off an average of 25,000 head per year. The soil is described as being black to brown loam with a good deal of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The rolling downs are covered in

Mitchell grass ''Astrebla'' is a small genus of xerophytic (adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water) grasses found only in Australia. They are the dominant grass across much of the continent. They are commonly known as Mitchell grass aft ...

amongst areas of Gidyea woodlands. The property is situated along the Herbert River and Happy Creek, both of which are

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of the

Georgina River The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Geor ...

History

The station was established in 1883 when Richardson, Little and Carr took up a large area of land known as Austral Downs on the tableland. Initially the property was to be stocked with

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

. By mid-1884 the property was stocked with 1,400 head of cattle and 140 horses. A flock of 8,200 ewes were overlanded to the property later the same year. Some flooding occurred in 1885 following heavy rains, with Austral losing £1000 worth of earthworks. The entire area was affected by far more severe flooding in 1901, with the station reported as having been ''entirely swept away'' by the combined flood waters of the

Georgina Georgina may refer to: Names * Georgina (name), a feminine given name Places Australia * Georgina, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland * Georgina Basin, a large sedimentary basin in Australia * Georgina River, a riv ...

, Rankin and James Rivers. Brabazon and Co. bought the property in 1911. At this time the station had an estimated area of and was sold unstocked. The first commercial flight in the Northern Territory by

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

carried Mr. C. J. Brabazon from

Elderslie Station Elderslie Station, also known as Elderslie, is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep and cattle station in Queensland, Australia. Description The station is located about west of Winton and east of Middleton in Central West Queenslan ...

to Austral Downs in 1921. In 1925 the station was acquired by the Scottish Australian Land Company. Later the same year the property was placed under

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

following an outbreak of redwater in the herd. Floods occurred in early 1927 with the crossing to the station being submerged under of water, cutting the telegraph line. The area was gripped by

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

from 1934 to mid-1935 before the property received of rain in one day. The drought of 1952 lead to Austral and other stations trying to move all stock from their properties and trucking them to the

railhead to move further afield for

agistment Agistment originally referred specifically to the proceeds of pasturage in the king's forests. To agist is, in English law, to take cattle to graze, in exchange for payment (derived from the Old English ''giste'', ''gite'', a "lying place"). H ...

. Later in the 1950s a rocket shelter was constructed at Austral as part of the Woomera

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

. In 1980 the property was sold to

Nelson Bunker Hunt Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an American oil company executive. He was a billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar tried to corner the world market in silver ...

, an American billionaire, along with other parts of the Scottish Australian Company assets. The

acquired Austral in 1990 to be run in conjunction with neighbouring Avon Downs which the company had purchased in 1921.

References

{{reflist Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory Stations (Australian agriculture) 1883 establishments in Australia

Description

History

See also

References