Springvale or Springvale Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a

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 ...

in the East Kimberley region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The Springvale Aggregation was created when Springvale was purchased along with

Alice Downs Alice Downs Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. it is one of four stations known as the Springvale Aggregation, owned by Harvest Road. History The property was established prior to 1901; the ...

, Mabel Downs, and Texas Downs by a South African company in 2003. the four properties are owned by Harvest Road, an agribusiness owned by

Andrew Forrest John Andrew Henry Forrest (born 18 November 1961), nicknamed Twiggy, is an Australian businessman. He is best known as the former CEO (and current non-executive chairman) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), and has other interests in the mining i ...

. Springvale Station is situated about north of

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

and south west of

Warmun Warmun Community (also known as Turkey Creek) and Warmun are a township and locality in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, located on the Great Northern Highway, northeast of Perth, Western Australia. The closest populated town is Hal ...

in the Kimberley region. The cluster of stations known as Springvale Aggregation covers .

History

J. W. McAdam acquired Springvale in 1932 from E. Bridge and Sons. The family business Quilty and Sons acquired Springvale in 1948 from W. J. McAdam in 1948. The Quiltys already owned neighbouring

Bedford Downs Station Bedford Downs, or Bedford Downs Station, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. It is situated about west of Warmun and north of Halls Creek in the Kimberley region. Both the station and nearby Mount B ...

. In 2003 the property was sold as part of a 15-million four-property deal to South African interests. The four adjoining stations of Springvale, Bedford Downs, Mabel Downs and

comprised an area of and were stocked with approximately 32,000 head of cattle.

Today

In March 2022,

's agribusiness, Harvest Road, bought the station, along with Mabel Downs,

and Texas Downs, together known as the Springvale Aggregation. Together they cover and are stocked with 35,000 head of cattle.

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 right ...

of the land were keen to work with the new owners, hoping for some of the land to be developed as tourist destinations, which would create jobs for

Indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

in a region which has few opportunities. In addition, with Forrest's known interest in improving the lives of Indigenous peoples, it is hoped that his wealth could be used to improve educational outcomes for children in the Halls Creek area.

References

{{Stations of the Kimberley Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)

History

Today

See also

References