Going, Going, Gone!
Intensifying Narrabri’s Agricultural Industry
Proposed as affordable estates, Closer Settlement Farms were a way for the government to increase the profitability of the ‘new’ nation by promoting rural settlement and agricultural expansion.
Immediately following Federation, the passing of the Closer Settlement Act in 1904 set in motion the re-acquisition of ‘Crown Land’ for subdivision and sale. This 1911 Tibereenah Estate subdivision plan is one example detailing the sale of sixty-four Closer Settlement Farms in the Narrabri region.
The sale of farms created by subdividing large properties into smaller plots was intended to attract farmers looking to expand their holdings, rural workers looking to become landowners, and immigrants seeking new opportunities across the newly federated country. Areas like Narrabri, only 530km from Sydney and with access to multiple waterways, were considered great potential for agricultural productivity.
Despite this potential, aspiring farmers faced many challenges related to land clearing, economic viability and explicit conditions of sale relating to the ‘improvement’ of the land.
The influx of new settlers who purchased Closer Settlement Farms established productive farms of wheat, cotton and livestock. Their legacy still stands in the patchwork of farms operating across the region today.
