Tanumbirini 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 ...

on formerly what were Kotandji lands 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 stati ...

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The property is situated approximately north of Elliott and west of

Borroloola Borroloola ( local Aboriginal languages: ''Burrulula'') is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located on the McArthur River, about 50 km upstream from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Location Borroloola lies on the traditional c ...

. The property abuts both the

Bullwaddy Conservation Reserve The Bullwaddy Conservation Reserve is a protected area approximately north east of Elliott in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Reserve occupies an area of and was established in the year 2000. Amungee Mungee cattle station surrounds ...

and

Amungee Mungee Amungee Mungee Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Location It is situated about north east of Elliott and south west of Borroloola. The property surrounds the Bullwaddy Cons ...

Station to the west. Tanumbirini also shares a boundary with Nutwood Downs to the west, Beetaloo Station to the south, Broadmere to the east and the Alawa Aboriginal Land Trust to the north. The

Carpentaria Highway The Carpentaria Highway is a highway, which runs from near Daly Waters to Borroloola in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is a sealed road and is part of National Highway 1. The Highway takes its name from the Gulf of Carpentaria, which i ...

passes through the property. It currently occupies an area of and is owned by Rallen Australia (owned by the Ravazzotti and Langenhoven families from South Africa) who acquired the property, along with nearby Forrest Hill Station for 70 million. The properties have a combined area of and are able to support approximately 40,000 head of cattle.

History

The station was established in 1893 when Henry Coop of Calvert Downs moved his cattle west to form the new station at Tanumbirini. Records claim that whilst with his cattle on the Robinson River, Coop was "speared by Aborigines but survives". Calvert Downs was abandoned and Coop established the new Tanumbirini station in 1894. In 2002 the property was acquired by Henry and Maria Townsend. The property had been suffering from

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...

and the black soil plans were completely denuded of grass. At the time it was stocked with 10,000 cattle with an additional 2,000 to 3,000

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

cattle. The Townsends redeveloped the property and changed the management practices. They also increased the stock on the property to 23,000 head of cattle before selling in 2007. Sterling Buntine, who also owned

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 Western Australia and Amburla Station in the Northern Territory, acquired Tanumbirini in 2007 for an undisclosed sum. At the time it had an area of and was to be subdivided and auctioned before Buntine bought it. The property was then acquired by Thames Pastoral Company, who purchased the property from Sterling Buntine in 2012 for 30 million. The sale of the station included approximately 28,000 head of cattle. Several watercourses flow through the property including Arnold River, Cox River, Tanumbirini Creek and Williams Creek. Buntine sold the property in 2012 along with Forrest Hill Station to the Thames Pastoral Company for about 33 million. In 2020 the property, along with Forrest Hill station, was acquired by the current owners, Rallen Australia, for $70 million. Tanumbirini and Forrest Hill were sold in one line by Rawdon Briggs and Bram Pollock of Colliers International, and Geoff Warriner and Chris Holgar of JLL.

References

{{Reflist Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory Stations (Australian agriculture)

History

See also

References