Willandra Lakes Region

About

The Willandra Lakes Region is a World Heritage Site in the Far West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Willandra Lakes Region is the traditional meeting place of the Muthi Muthi, Ngiyampaa and Paakantyi Aboriginal peoples. The 2,400-square-kilometre (930 sq mi) area was inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 5th Session of the World Heritage Committee in 1981. The Region contains important natural and cultural features including exceptional examples of past human civilization including the world's oldest evidence of cremation. A small section of the region is protected by the Mungo National Park. The World Heritage status of the region was created and negotiated in 1981. The site was gazetted on the Australian National Heritage List on 21 May 2007 under the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1), 2003 (Cth). The region is also listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.

Willandra Lakes has formed over the last 2 million years. The ancient shorelines are stratified into three major layers of sediments that were deposited at different stages in the lakes' history.

The earliest sediments are more than 50,000 years old and are orange-red in colour. Above are clay, clean quartz sand and soil that were deposited along the lakes' edge when the lakes were full of deep relatively fresh water between 50,000 and 19,000 years ago. The top layer is composed largely of wind blown clay particles heaped up on the lunettes during periods of fluctuating water levels, before the lakes finally dried up.

Aboriginal people lived on the shores of the Willandra Lakes from 40,000 to 35,000 years ago. It is one of the oldest known human occupation sites in Australia. There is abundant evidence of Aboriginal occupation over the last 10,000 years.

European exploration of the area was largely left to the anonymous pastoralists who followed renowned explorers. Captain Charles Sturt is the one who had most influence in arousing interest in the area. He came upon the upper reaches of the Darling River in 1829 and named it after the Governor, Ralph Darling. He was again in the area in 1844 during his attempt to explore the interior of the continent.

Surveyor George Boyle White explored the Darling in 1833 in the region from the Peel River junction to the region of Fort Bourke and was followed two years later by Major Thomas Mitchell, the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, who was intent on showing whether or not the Darling entered the Murray as Sturt had surmised. Mitchell failed to befriend the Aboriginal people, however, and after proceeding south as far as Laidley's Ponds he thought it best to retreat after one of his party had shot and killed an Aboriginal. Mitchell went into the area again in 1836, although this time he traveled down the Murrumbidgee with the intention of exploring the Darling from its junction with the Murray. However, satisfied that Sturt was correct he followed the Darling upstream only a few kilometres before turning his attention elsewhere.

Soon after the Murrumbidgee/Murray route became well-used by stockman overlanding sheep and cattle to the colony of South Australia which had been established in 1836. Squatters who were eager for new land followed government surveyors and explorers and took up runs in the new regions. The first pastoral station in the lower Darling region was that taken up by George Hobler in 1845 on the Lachlan, a run which he called Paika.

Settlement in the region between the Murrumbidgee and the Darling was officially recognised on 4 December 1847 when the Darling Pastoral District was proclaimed.

The great boon to the pastoral occupation of the Darling and the back blocks was the navigation of the Murray and its tributaries from South Australia. Francis Cadell and William Randell pioneered river navigation during 1853 and within six months of their maiden voyages on the Darling the value of river properties had doubled.

The earliest pastoral occupation of the region was that of George Lee for the lease of Turlee on 28 February 1850. George Mory's tender for Boomiaricool was accepted in December 1853, followed by that of James Scott for Arumpo in October 1859. Because of the remoteness of these back blocks and lack of natural surface water, tenure was very tenuous.

Back blocks could not be worked profitably until expensive improvements had been made in the way of fencing and the provision of watering facilities. The sinking of tanks and successful wells were expensive and somewhat of a lottery. At Gol Gol between March 1875 and September 1881, eighty-three trial shafts had been sunk at a cost of 1,260 pounds.

Pastoralists still had an optimistic attitude towards the region and were convinced that with sufficient capital, profit would be theirs. It took them some time to appreciate the fragile nature of the environment and that the district could not accommodate the stock numbers which could be carried further to the east and that good seasons were the exception rather than the rule.

The Royal Commissions in 1900 were quick to appreciate "that much too favourable a view was taken on the carrying capacity of the country...It is only during the late years, apparently, that pastoralists seemed to have opened their eyes to the grave risks they ran in allowing the edible shrubs to be eaten by stock in the belief that they would re-appear in abundance after every rain".

In many instances overstocking was not planned but as a result of expected rains failing to come. Sending stock away meant loss of profit and possibly an increased overdraft. Many pastoralists were caught this way, however many other had an eye for quick profits. JH Patterson who took over Gol Gol in 1875, sold it in 1882, but was forced to repossess it again in 1886 after Everitt and White were ruined by the country.

Remoteness meant carting supplies and wool to and from stations was expensive. Often supplies were difficult to obtain as carriers would not cart supplies to the remote stations. In addition stock often had to be sent to market rather than being sold on the station.

Rabbits compounded the problems of pastoral enterprise. They competed directly with the sheep in the fragile environment. The government recognised the problem and in 1883 it passed the Rabbit Nuisance Act which, among other things, offered bonuses to professional trappers for scalps. Until the widespread of myxamatosis in the 1950s the war on rabbits was an accepted part of station life throughout the region.

Pastoralists often complained of the lack of suitable labour for their remote stations. The Aboriginal population became an important part of the pastoral industry during the manpower shortage of the 1860s. However, with the extensive use of wire fencing in the mid-1870s and the use of paddocking Aboriginal shepherds became redundant. Chinese undoubtedly worked in the district but there is hard evidence to indicate this. One of the few references is to Ah Tin who was employed to sink a well on Gol Gol Station. By 1883 there existed a camp at Narrandera with 303 Chinese that searched for casual work.

Throughout the 1890s the problems of drought, rabbits, remoteness and lack of labour were compounded because of the Australia-wide recession. Only the most astute and financially secure pastoralists survived. Drought dragged on from 1895 to 1903.

The Royal Commissioners of 1901 looked with sympathy on the pastoralists of the Western Division and recommended similar treatment from the Government. Almost immediately new legislation was drafted and within three months of the report the new legislation was approved and brought into operation on 1 January 1901. The Western Lands Board was granted control of the Western Division and to formulate more appropriate policies and conditions which pertained to the West. Leases were also extended for an additional forty-two years offering more secure tenure. The legislation of 1901 governed pastoralism in the region during the twentieth century.

Technology caused great change throughout the district. One of the first changes to make an impact was the introduction of mechanical shearing. Ten machines were introduced to Gol Gol and Mungo shearing sheds and had the immediate effect of requiring additional shearers. Other technology included the amount of work undertaken by mechanised equipment such as tractors. The telephone was introduced in 1924 to connect Arumpo, Pan Ban and Mulurulu and removed a great deal of the sense of isolation in the region.