South Australia–Victoria border dispute
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2012) |
The border between the
Tyers survey
In 1839 Charles Tyers was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Colonial Service and instructed by Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, to ascertain the precise longitude at the mouth of the Glenelg River so that a distance to the 141st meridian (the eastern border of South Australia) could be measured.
Several months later, Tyers completed a survey from Melbourne to the Glenelg River and on an expanse of sandy beach he formed a broad arrow with limestone rocks. This became known as Tyers' Mark and was used to determine the starting point for the border survey. Due primarily to inadequate equipment, this was later determined to be 2 miles and 4 chains (3.3 km) in error.
Following the proclamation of
Wade–White surveys
For several years following Tyers' survey no action was taken to extend his work but by 1845 the need to have the boundary line defined on the ground had become urgent, particularly to the east of
There was uncertainty as to which Government should grant pastoral licenses to the
By March 1847 Wade had got his party of seven and equipment at the mouth of the Glenelg River. He was joined by assistant surveyor Edward White who had been appointed by the South Australian government to act as an observer on its behalf.
After much deprivation and hardship due to drought and reluctance by his men to continue with poor work conditions, Wade was still 155 miles (250 km) from the Murray River after nine months of swamp, sand dunes and broken equipment. The expedition collapsed at the 36th parallel of latitude. On 16 December 1847 the South Australian Government published a proclamation that the "line as marked on the ground" by Wade should be "deemed and construed" to be the eastern boundary of South Australia. In March, 1849 New South Wales issued a proclamation in similar terms. Wade died in 1854.
As the survey was only partially completed the two colonies were in agreement that surveyor White should complete Wade's line to the Murray River as soon as possible. This was doubly urgent as the colony of Victoria was to be proclaimed within twelve months further complicating legal and later political matters.
In August 1849 the extension from Wade's line was begun. White and his party of five were similarly troubled by the severe nature of the
Smalley and Todd survey
Doubts as to the accuracy of the Wade-White line grew with the availability of better astronomical equipment and the advent of the
there were far more precise values for the longitudes of these places and hence the 141st longitude of the legal border.By agreement, an expedition left
As a result of their observations Smalley and Todd declared the new 141st meridian. This led to the discovery that the proclaimed border on the ground was at least two miles and 19 chains (3.6 km) to the west of the more accurate measurement of the 141st meridian. A new border between New South Wales and South Australia on the newly-verified 141st meridian line, was jointly accepted by Smalley, on behalf of the New South Wales Government, and Todd, on behalf of the South Australian Government, and new N.S.W.- S.A border markers were set in place.[1] This border realignment had other implications, as the 141st meridian also forms part of the Queensland-South Australian border (between what is now Cameron Corner and Haddon Corner) and the original Victoria-S.A. border had been supposed to lie on the same meridian. The survey of the Queensland-S.A. border had not yet taken place and, when it was done, used the actual 141st meridian.[2] However, despite the involvement of the Melbourne Observatory in the astronomical work, Victoria was not a party to the agreement, between South Australia and New South Wales, and did not agree to a corresponding realignment of its border with South Australia.
The "Disputed Territory" as it was termed between the surveyed border and the actual 141st meridian contained over 500 square miles (1295 km2) of land. By 1849, 47% of it had already been sold freehold or leased out by the Victorian Government. If the more accurate border had been adopted, Victoria would not have owned the land to be able to sell or lease it. This was the beginning of the battle of the Disputed Territory, a bone of contention which was to last for more than forty years.
Legal dispute
The South Australian Government did not let the matter rest. In 1874 it suggested the value of the land was about £800,000. Between 1883 and 1893 South Australia sent more than 70 letters or telegrams to Melbourne seeking Victorian relinquishment or financial redress. There were many futile conferences. The nearest to an agreement between the two states was in 1908. Then it was decided, subject to ratification by Parliament, that £215,000 should be regarded as compensation to South Australia. Parliament did not ratify the proposal, nor did anything come of the 1909 South Australian premier's plan to send surveyors to subdivide some of the land on the east of White's marked border, the last "legally proclaimed" border.
South Australia finally abandoned all hope of settlement, due to Victoria's intransigence, and in 1911 it sued in the original jurisdiction of the High Court only to have its suit dismissed.[3] In 1914, it resorted to an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which ruled in favour of Victoria.[4]
Serviceton
When the railway line was built from Melbourne to Adelaide,
See also
References
- ^ a b "V.—Intercolonial". South Australian Advertiser. 26 April 1869. p. 3. Retrieved 6 August 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ Department of Resources, Queensland. "Surveying the Queensland South Australia border | Evolution of Queensland's borders". www.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ South Australia v Victoria [1911] HCA 17, (1911) 12 CLR 667 (22 May 1911), High Court (Australia).
- ^ State of South Australia v State of Victoria [1914] UKPC 3, [1914] AC 283; [1914] UKPCHCA 1, (1914) 18 CLR 115 (28 January 1914), Privy Council (on appeal from Australia).
Further reading
- Dunn, Bob; Deckert, John (2004), The disputed country : Australia's lost border, Bob Dunn and John Deckert, ISBN 978-0-646-43306-6
- Chappel, K. L., Surveying for land settlement in Victoria 1836-1960, survey of the Vic-NSW boundary, survey of the Vic-SA boundary, Office of Surveyor General (1996)
- ISBN 978-0-909174-01-9, also in Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords (1841). Sessional Papers of the House of Lords, 1841, (4 & 5 Victoriæ), Volume 5. p. 19.