The Never Never is the name of a vast, remote area of the

Australian Outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

, as described in

Barcroft Boake Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (26 March 1866 – 2 May 1892) was an Australian poet. Background Born in Sydney, Boake worked as a surveyor and a boundary rider, but is best remembered for his poetry, a volume of which was published five years ...

's poem " Where the Dead Men Lie": :''Out on the wastes of the Never Never -'' :''That's where the dead men lie!'' :''There where the heat-waves dance forever -'' :''That's where the dead men lie!''Barcroft Boake, "Where the Dead Men Lie"
/ref> One reference earlier than Barcroft Boake's is ''The Never Never Land: a Ride in North Queensland'' (1884) by Archibald William Stirling so it is probable the term was in general use in at least the second half of the nineteenth century. Life in the Never Never of 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 ...

was described by

Jeannie Gunn Jeannie Gunn (pen name, Mrs Aeneas Gunn) (5 June 18709 June 1961) was an Australian novelist, teacher and Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) volunteer. Life Jeannie Taylor was born in Carlton, Melbourne, the last of five childre ...

in two books including the classic Australian novel '' We of the Never Never''. Australian author Rosa Praed had published in 1915 the novel ''Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land''. The term was also used several times throughout the 2008

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

film '' Australia''.

References

Plains of Australia Australian outback {{coord, 21, 13, 30.50, S, 133, 36, 23.38, E, display=title, region:AU_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki

See also

References