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Famous Ranches and Stations

Lake Nash Station: A 12,000 Square Kilometre Run on the Queensland Border

A station that began with a 700-head mob in 1879 now runs three leases as one, with a wagyu focus.

What is Lake Nash Station?

Lake Nash is a cattle station on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, about eight kilometres east of the Alpurrurulam community and 117 kilometres south of Camooweal. It covers about 12,000 square kilometres, three million acres, according to the Wikipedia article on Lake Nash Station. The Georgina River bisects the property.

The country is rolling black-soil plain with Mitchell grass over limestone. The limestone holds caves, some with pools deeper than 91 metres. The traditional owners are the Yaroinga people, whose country covered about 31,000 square kilometres across the Territory and Queensland.

How did Lake Nash begin?

William Landsborough's expedition turned back before reaching Lake Nash in 1861 for lack of water. In 1866 Francis Nash and William Greig overlanded sheep and cattle and founded Stony Plains station, and the waterhole became known as Lake Nash. A severe drought in 1867 forced them to abandon it.

In the 1870s Crown lands commissioner Frank Scarr obtained the lease, apparently as a speculative investment. In 1879 John Costello bought the unstocked property and stocked it that year with 700 mixed cattle from Carrawal. In the 1880s fattened cattle were taken overland to Adelaide for sale.

Bank, company and family owners

Costello became insolvent in 1903 and the Queensland National Bank acquired the property. In 1915 the Queensland National Pastoral Company took over. It had 850,000 pounds in capital and properties totalling 24,247 square kilometres, of which Lake Nash made up 7,273.

In 1923 the property was about 8,806 square kilometres, one of the larger Territory runs but smaller than Victoria River Downs. It later passed to the Georgina Pastoral Company, a partnership of Peter Hughes and Bill Scott. In 2009 that partnership dissolved and the Hughes family now runs the company as a subsidiary of Hughes Pastoral Group.

Labor and Aboriginal workers

Lake Nash's record includes hard facts about labor. In 1891 a traveller reported that Aboriginal people at Lake Nash were starving and sick, and Aboriginal people were used as cheap labor. In the late 1920s and early 1930s many Alyawarre-speaking people moved to the station to escape violence linked to the Coniston massacres and to seek work and rations.

In 1950 the station was investigated for using slave labor: Aboriginal workers were paid two pounds a month, half of which they could not access, and pumpers earned one pound a week, one-eighth of white workers' pay. In the mid-1960s Aboriginal workers were replaced by mechanised methods and forced off, mostly to Alpurrurulam.

The herd today

Today three leases, Lake Nash, Georgina Downs and Argadargada, run as one station. Carrying capacity is 55,000 head in a good season, including about 30,000 cross-bred breeders. Breeds include Santa Gertrudis, Brahman, Charbrais, Senepol and Waggui, and the main focus is wagyu beef production.

Employment in 2009 was 20 to 25 people. A farm.FM story about wagyu beef cattle gives useful background on that breed.

What Made It Work

Lake Nash has run since 1879 despite drought, flood, insolvency and owner changes. The record points to water, a long-lived corporate structure and a shift in breeding.

It also shows costs, especially for the Aboriginal people who worked and lived there.

  • Water: the Georgina River and waterholes made the site viable in a dry region.
  • Adelaide markets: in the 1880s fattened cattle were taken overland to Adelaide.
  • Backing by banks and companies: the Queensland National Bank and then the Queensland National Pastoral Company carried it after Costello's insolvency.
  • Combined leases: three leases run as one gives flexibility across 12,000 square kilometres.
  • Breeding: crossbreds with Brahman, Senepol and Wagyu aim at wagyu production.
  • Seasonal risk: droughts in 1952, 1954 and 2008 and floods in 1901 and 1953 show the swings.

Floods, drought and cattle theft

In 1901 over 254 millimetres of rain fell in one day. In 1953 over 102 millimetres in March lifted the Georgina River more than seven metres, its highest in over 36 years. In 1954 only 51 millimetres fell in the first eight months. In 1952 fewer than a quarter of normal cattle were moved along the Murranji Track.

In 1917 about 800 head of cattle were stolen. Thomas Hanlan and James Wickham were arrested with 200 of them near the Frew River and each was sentenced to five years' hard labor and a 100 pound fine. For broader reading, see the farm.FM ranching section. For the full record, see the source article's ownership history and its notes on the land and climate.

Timeline

  1. 1866Nash and Greig found Stony Plains station
  2. 1879John Costello stocks the property with 700 cattle
  3. 1903Costello insolvent; Queensland National Bank takes the property
  4. 1915Queensland National Pastoral Company acquires it
  5. 1917About 800 cattle stolen
  6. 1950Station investigated over Aboriginal labor conditions
  7. 1960sAboriginal workers replaced by mechanisation
  8. 2009Scott-Hughes partnership dissolves; Hughes family runs it

Frequently asked questions

Where is Lake Nash Station?

It is on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, about 117 kilometres south of Camooweal and eight kilometres east of Alpurrurulam, close to the Queensland border.

How big is Lake Nash Station?

It covers about 12,000 square kilometres, or three million acres, made up of three leases run as one: Lake Nash, Georgina Downs and Argadargada.

Who owns Lake Nash Station?

The Hughes family runs it as a subsidiary of Hughes Pastoral Group. It was earlier held by the Georgina Pastoral Company, a partnership of Peter Hughes and Bill Scott.

What cattle does Lake Nash run?

Breeds include Santa Gertrudis, Brahman, Charbrais, Senepol and Waggui. The station's main focus is wagyu beef production, with a carrying capacity of 55,000 head in a good season.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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