Newcastle Waters Station is a

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 ...

between

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

and Darwin, supporting about 45,000 cattle in a notably well-watered area of 10,353 square kilometres.

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

was once a partner in the station, and sent his son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

to work there for a year.

Description

It is located about north of

and south of Darwin in the

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 ...

. The nearest settlement is

Elliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...

which is approximately south east of the station. Occupying an area of of open plains, floodplain and wooded sandhills the property carries about 45,000 head of cattle including about 20,000

brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

breeders, and annually turn off about 13,000 for export to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

History

John McDouall Stuart John McDouall Stuart (7 September 18155 June 1866), often referred to as simply "McDouall Stuart", was a Scottish explorer and one of the most accomplished of all Australia's inland explorers. Stuart led the first successful expedition to tra ...

, the explorer, reached the area in 1861 established a base camp near the present site of the station. He described the river running north from Lake Woods as ''the most splendid reach of water'' and named it "Glandfield lagoon" after Edward Glandfield the mayor of Adelaide and later changed by the expeditions sponsor to "Newcastle Waters" after the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle u ...

, Secretary for the Colonies. Established in the early 1880s by Dr. W.J. Browne of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

who had also established Springvale Station near

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...

. Alfred Giles managed Brownes properties and had renowned stockman D'Arcy Uhr overland a mob of cattle from western

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1883. Browne's business interests failed and he was forced to sell the lease to

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, also from Adelaide, in 1895. The Lewis family held onto the lease for the next 50 years.

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 s ...

were once grazing at the station with the first flock of being moved off in 1897. The station was turning off large numbers of cattle since the early 1900s, 1,100 were turned off via Hergott Springs in 1905 and another 1,260 being droved to

Oodnadatta Oodnadatta is a small, remote outback town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia, located north-north-west of the state capital of Adelaide by road or direct, at an altitude of . The unsealed Oodnadatta Track, an outback road ...

in 1910. Large number of cattle have been produced of the property since. In 1921 the station was mostly

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 ...

d to control an infection of

pleuropneumonia Pleuropneumonia is inflammation of the lungs and pleura, pleurisy being the inflammation of the pleura alone. See also * Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia – a disease in cattle * Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia Contagious caprine pleurop ...

., during this time no stock was allowed in or out of the area. Another quarantine for an area of about of the station was put into effect in 1927. Following a dry season in 1928, heavy rains came at the start of the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

in 1929, causing the creeks to flood and waters to rise almost to the front steps of the police station. The government resumed an area of from the station in 1930 to create a townsite. A works depot and a police station already existed in the area at the time. By the 1960s it was a virtual

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

road train A road train, land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover. History Early ...

s had replaced

droving Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding. Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the aid of dogs—has a very long history in the Old World. An owner might entrust an agent to deli ...

to transport cattle to market. The station and surrounding area were devastated by a large scale

bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

in 1951. The fire burnt out over over a front. Station workers had to backburn in an attempt to control the flames.

Ted Egan Edward Joseph Egan (born 6 July 1932) is an Australian folk musician and a former public servant who served as Administrator of the Northern Territory from 2003 to 2007. Early life Egan was born in Coburg, Victoria, moving to the Northern Ter ...

, the

folk musician Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

and former

Administrator of the Northern Territory The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...

, was the sole teacher at Newcastle Waters in 1965 and was stranded at the property for six weeks when the creek flooded. During this time no supplies were able to be delivered so Egan had to hunt for animals, such as bush turkey for his dinner. He later returned to the station in 2012 for the book launch of, ''Middle of Everywhere'', about life in the area.

was a partner in the station along with Ken Warriner, Peter Baillieu and Tony Chisholm when the group purchased the property in 1983. Packer later attempted to purchase the prestigious Victoria River Downs in 1984 only to have the deal blocked by the state government. His son,

James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...

worked on the property for a year as a jackaroo. He also was responsible for selling Newcastle Waters, along with 16 other properties that made up his family's pastoral portfolio, in 2009 to Terra Firma for 425 million. A

burnt out a large area of pasture in 2012 when a car caught fire on the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...

, the fire to the east of the highway was extinguished but the area to the west was controlled by station workers to keep it away from stock. The fire eventually came to Lake Longreach within the station where it burnt out in the damp conditions. The

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of Newcastle Waters became the fourth Indigenous group in the Northern Territory to gain

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

over both the old townsite and parts of the station covering a toal area of . The

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

had a special ceremonial sitting on the property to commemorate the occasion. 10 other pastoral leases and the town of Daly Waters are within the area of determination.

References

{{Coord, 17, 22, 40, S, 133, 24, 35, E, type:landmark_region:AU-WA, display=title Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory