Distance, Drought and Dispossession: A History of the Northern Territory Pastoral Industry by Glen McLaren and William Cooper

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Smudge to the title text. Inscribed by Glen McLaren. Body text and binding are still very good.

This history of the Northern Territory pastoral industry outlines how cattlemen were subject to the tyrannies of distance and drought. Distance greatly affected travel time and cost, income, and quality of life. Similarly, geographical and environmental factors, especially drought, determined stocking rates, created mustering problems and affected the quality of life, livestock, and overall profitability.

This book describes how, with the end of the packhorse era in the 1960s and 1970s, and the introduction of aerial mustering, two-way radios and satellite communications, beef roads and road trains, and efficient, economical water-boring equipment, cattlemen gained much greater control over their operations.

The authors consider, however, that land rights, which are the consequence of Aboriginal dispossession, will continue to affect pastoral operations for the foreseeable future. (back cover)