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Kate Reeve (Columbia University)

British imperial policy for the Australian colonies was marked by a struggle to control land alienation. As pastoralists pushed their flocks far beyond the boundaries of settlement, the Colonial Office attempted to regulate settlement and enforce a policy of land sales. Deemed unoccupied by both colonists and imperial officials, Aboriginal land in Australian colonies raised sharp questions about the meaning and the function of waste land in empire. In this context, a new form of tenure, the pastoral lease, was introduced to conciliate pastoralists’ demand for security while buttressing Crown ownership. But the new leases also included an unusual provision, upholding Aboriginal people’s right to access land and continue traditional practices. This talk, focusing on pastoral leases in South Australia, explores the changing significance of waste land through novel attempts to manage it.

Light refreshments served.