Federation Drought

1895–1903: Australia’s worst drought since European settlement

THE FEDERATION DROUGHT affected almost all of Australia and is widely considered the most destructive in our recorded history, based on the huge stock losses it caused. So named because it coincided with Australia’s Federation, the drought ended squatter-dominated pastoralism in New South Wales and Queensland. By the end of the 1840s, about 280,000sq.km – almost all of eastern Australia – was occupied by at least 2000 squatters on Crown land. To control them and encourage closer settlement, the eastern states introduced land reforms in the 1860s, hoping to break up large runs into smaller blocks for farming and grazing. This was not always achieved because squatters found ways to hold on to productive country. Nevertheless, many selectors took up ‘homestead’ blocks, in north-west Victoria’s Mallee district in the 1870s, and from…

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Australian Geographic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2019

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