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Famous Ranches and Stations

Newcastle Waters Station: Where the Droving Roads of the Territory Met

From John McDouall Stuart's camp to a 45,000-head Brahman operation, a station at the heart of the Territory's droving story.

What is Newcastle Waters Station?

Newcastle Waters is a pastoral lease between Alice Springs and Darwin in the Northern Territory, about 777 kilometres north of Alice Springs and 705 kilometres south of Darwin. It covers 10,353 square kilometres of open plains, floodplain and wooded sandhills, per the Wikipedia entry on Newcastle Waters Station. The nearest settlement is Elliot, about 24 kilometres south-east.

Today it carries about 45,000 cattle, including about 20,000 Brahman breeders, and turns off about 13,000 a year for export to Indonesia.

How did Newcastle Waters get its name?

Explorer John McDouall Stuart reached the area in 1861 and set up a base camp near the present station site. He described the river north of Lake Woods as the most splendid reach of water and named it Glandfield lagoon. The expedition's sponsor later renamed it Newcastle Waters after the Duke of Newcastle.

That reliable water made it a natural stopping point. It is the same reason droving routes later converged here.

Founders and the Lewis family

Dr W.J. Browne of Adelaide established the station in the early 1880s. He also founded Springvale Station near Katherine, and Alfred Giles managed his properties. Stockman D'Arcy Uhr droved a mob of cattle from western Queensland in 1883.

Browne's business interests failed, and he sold the lease to John Lewis of Adelaide in 1895. The Lewis family held it for about 50 years. Sheep also grazed the station, with the first flock moved off in 1897, and 1,100 cattle were turned off via Hergott Springs in 1905.

What is the Murranji Track?

Newcastle Waters is where the Murranji Track begins. The stock route runs 644 kilometres from Newcastle Waters to Top Springs and was mainly used from 1904 to the late 1960s, according to a Murranji Track article. Nat Buchanan first took cattle along it to the Kimberleys in 1886 with a Mudburra guide showing them water.

The track earned the nickname death track. It has few waterholes, dry stretches up to 180 kilometres and dense scrub, and at least 11 drovers are known to have died on it. A farm.FM story about the drovers of the Murranji tells part of that story.

Quarantines, floods and the ghost town years

In 1921 most of the station was quarantined for pleuropneumonia, and no stock could move in or out. A 1927 quarantine covered about 200 square miles. In 1929 heavy rains after a dry 1928 flooded creeks almost to the police station's front steps, and in 1951 a bushfire burned over 1,000 square miles on a 20-mile front.

In 1930 the government resumed one square mile for a townsite. By the 1960s the town was nearly a ghost town because road trains had replaced droving. In 1965 Ted Egan, later Administrator of the Northern Territory, was the sole teacher there and was stranded six weeks by a flooded creek.

What Made It Work

Newcastle Waters has kept running through sheep, droving, quarantines and road-train change. The record shows a station tied to its water and its position on the north-south route.

The source also notes native title: in 2012 the traditional owners gained native title over the old townsite and parts of the station, covering about 30,000 square kilometres.

  • Reliable water: the lagoon Stuart found in 1861 anchored the site.
  • Position: the station sat where droving routes, including the Murranji, converged.
  • Flexible stocking: sheep were tried and moved off in 1897, with cattle becoming the mainstay.
  • Disease control: the 1921 and 1927 quarantines show the limits imposed to control pleuropneumonia.
  • Breed focus: today's herd is built on about 20,000 Brahman breeders.
  • Export market: about 13,000 head a year go to Indonesia.

The Packer years and the 2009 sale

In 1983 Kerry Packer was a partner with Ken Warriner, Peter Baillieu and Tony Chisholm when the group bought the property. In 1984 his attempt to buy Victoria River Downs was blocked by the Northern Territory government. James Packer worked on Newcastle Waters for a year as a jackaroo.

In 2009 James Packer sold Newcastle Waters, with 16 other properties, to Terra Firma for 425 million Australian dollars. For broader reading, see the farm.FM ranching section. For the full record, see the source article's ownership history.

Timeline

  1. 1861John McDouall Stuart reaches Newcastle Waters
  2. 1883D'Arcy Uhr droves cattle from western Queensland
  3. 1895John Lewis buys the lease
  4. 1904Murranji Track becomes a popular shortcut
  5. 1921Quarantine for pleuropneumonia
  6. 1930Townsite resumed from the station
  7. 1983Packer partnership buys the property
  8. 2009Sold with 16 other properties to Terra Firma
  9. 2012Native title recognized over parts of the station

Frequently asked questions

Where is Newcastle Waters Station?

It is in the Northern Territory about 777 kilometres north of Alice Springs and 705 kilometres south of Darwin. The nearest settlement is Elliot, about 24 kilometres south-east of the station.

What is the Murranji Track?

It is a 644-kilometre stock route from Newcastle Waters to Top Springs, used mainly from 1904 to the late 1960s. Few waterholes and dry stretches of up to 180 kilometres earned it the name death track.

Who owned Newcastle Waters Station?

Dr W.J. Browne established it, the Lewis family held it from 1895 for about 50 years, and a Packer-led partnership bought it in 1983. James Packer sold it in 2009 with 16 other properties to Terra Firma.

How many cattle are on Newcastle Waters Station?

The station carries about 45,000 cattle, including about 20,000 Brahman breeders. About 13,000 are turned off each year for export to Indonesia, according to the Wikipedia entry.

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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