Class, status and land conflict: The democratisation of grazing lands in Queensland
Jim McAllister
Rural Sociologist, Central Queensland University, QLD
Barbara Geno
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Lecturer, Faculty of Business, University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD
PP: 115 - 124
Abstract
One of the recurring themes of environmental sociology is the manner in which detrimental environmental effects are differentially distributed, disadvantaging those of lower class and lesser status.
In the case of agricultural land in western societies, extensive restructuring and industrialisation of agriculture's biological processes has led to concentration of land in the hands of a few, a phenomenon associated with massive land degradation. The grazing industry in Australia is an extreme example of land concentration with millions of hectares held by the top 50 producers.
This paper addresses the issues of land conflict arising from Australia's international commitment to ecologically sustainable development and recent court judgements supporting indigenous rights to land tenure and management on grazing lands in Queensland. The paper has three primary aims. The first is to examine how the historical pattern of land holding in Queensland led to the creation of a powerful grazing elite with concomitant perceptions of their rights of occupation of grazing lands. The second thrust is to discuss how ecologically sustainable development has caused land management decisions to shift from being a private business matter to a public process and debate. Thirdly, the consequences of the Land Title legislation, as reformed in 1998, are elucidated and their impact on historical forms of tenure, class and status is discussed.
The democratisation of land management in Queensland has profound implications for the historical land uses of cattle and sheep grazing.
References
Anon (1997) Barons of the Bush. Australian Farm Journal 7(9): 34-89.
Barr N and Cary J (1992) Greening of a Brown Land: The Australian Search for Sustainable Land Use. South Melbourne: Macmillan.
Begbie D (1989) A Study of the Use of Soil Conservation Plans by Landholders in Queensland, Master of Ag. Studies, University of Queensland.
Beus C and Dunlap R (1990) Conventional versus Alternative Agriculture: The Paradigmatic Roots of the Debate, Rural Sociology 55(4): 590-616.
Broomhill R (1995) Globalisation, Neoliberalism and the Local State. In Spoehr J and Broomhill R (eds) Altered States: The Regional Impact of Free Market Policies on the Australian States, CLS Research Paper Series No 4, Adelaide: Centre for Labour Studies, University of Adelaide and the Social Justice Research Foundation, pp.26-40.
Chamala S (1993) Helping People to Help themselves: An overview and synthesis, Proceedings of the Australia Pacific Extension Conference. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Crew B (1964) History of the Walker and Archer Families in Australia. Canberra: Australian National University.
Downey T (1999) What's in a Title? Mediating Meanings of Land Ownership in Rural Australia. Rural Society 9(1): 329-338.
Durack M (1980) Kings in Grass Castles. London: Corgi Books.
Durack M (1985) Sons in the Saddle. London: Corgi Books.
Edwards G (1999) ‘Allocation, Regulation and Management - Mechanisms to Achieve Sustainability'. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, July 07-10, Brisbane.
Encel S (1970) Broad Acres, Equality and Authority: A Study of Class, Status and Power in Australia. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire, pp.293-317.
ESD Steering Committee (1992) Compendium of Ecologically Sustainable Development Recommendations. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
ESD Working Group (1991) Final Report: Agriculture. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Faber D (1998) The Political Ecology of American Capitalism: New Challenges for the Environmental Justice Movement. In Faber D (ed) The Struggle for Ecological Democracy. London: Guildford Press, pp.27-59.
Fagan B and Bryan D (1991) Canberra: Australia and the Changing Global Economy. In Sharp R and O'Leary J (eds) Inequality in Australia: Slicing Up the Cake. Port Melbourne: William Heinemann, pp.7-30.
Field R (1998) Risk and Justice: Capitalist Production and the Environment. In Faber D (ed) The Struggle for Ecological Democracy. London: Guildford Press, pp.81-103.
Flannery T (1995) The Explorers. Melbourne: Text Publishing.
Geisler C (1980) The quiet revolution in land use control revisited. In Buttel F and Newby H (eds) The Rural Sociology of Advanced Societies. London: Croom Helm, pp.489-529.
Hiley G (1997) The Wik Case: Issues and Implications. Sydney: Butterworth.
Holmes J (1996) The Policy Relevance of the State's Proprietary Power: Lease Tenure in Queensland. Australian Journal of Environmental Management 3(4): 240-256.
Jones J (1998) Corporate Barons in Major Rural Property Re-shuffle. Australian Farm Journal 7(11): 20-44.
Lawrence G (1987) Capitalism and the Countryside: The Rural Crisis in Australia. Sydney: Pluto Press.
Lawrence G (1999) Agri-Food Restructuring: A Synthesis of Recent Australian Research. Rural Sociology 64(2): 186-202.
Lawrence G and Killion F (1994) Beyond the Eastern Seaboard: What Future for Remote and Rural Australia? ACOSS National Congress Challenging the Divide: Equity in the Age of Efficiency. Gateway Hotel, Brisbane.
Lockie S and Vanclay F (eds) (1998) Critical Landcare. Wagga Wagga: Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University.
Martin P, Tarr S and Lockie S (1992) Participatory environmental management in NSW. In Lawrence G, Vanclay F and Furze B (eds) Agriculture, Environment and Society. Melbourne: Macmillan.
May D (1994) Aboriginal Labour and the Cattle Industry: Queensland from White Settlement to the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McGrath A (1995) Contested Ground: Australian Aborigines under the British Crown. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
McIntyre A and McIntyre J (1944) Country Towns of Victoria. Carlton VIC: Melbourne Univ. Press in association with Oxford University Press.
Mules W, Schirato T and Wigman B (1994) ‘Rural Identity within the Symbolic Order: Media Representation and the Drought'. Wagga Wagga: Centre for Rural Social Research Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.
Polain J (1993) Ethics and Curriculum: In search of a new paradigm for agricultural education. Paterson NSW: CB Alexander Agricultural College.
Reeve I and Brouwer D (1993) Your Farm's Future: How to measure its sustainability. NSW Ag Home Study Program, Patterson: CB Alexander Tocal.
Reynolds H (1987) Frontier: Aborigines, Settlers and Land. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin.
Roberts B (1993) Ground Rules. Toowoomba: University of Southern Queensland Press.
Rowley C (1972) The Destruction of Aboriginal Society. Ringwood: Penguin Books.
SCARM (Standing Committee of Agriculture and Resource Management) (1993) Sustainable Agriculture: Tracking the Indicators for Australia and New Zealand. East Melbourne: Report No 51, CSIRO Publications.
Simpson B (1996) Packhorse Drover. ABC Books, Sydney.
Sorensen T and Epps R (eds) (1993) Prospects and Policies for Rural Australia. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.
Stephenson M (1997) Indigenous to Australia: The Mabo Case and the Native Title Legislation - The Legal Issues in Recognising Native Title in Australia. Cardozo Law Bulletin http://www.gelso.unitn.it/card-adm/Review/Anthropology/Memuen.html.
Taylor M (1997) Bludgers in Grass Castles: Native Title and the Unpaid Debts of the Pastoral Industry. Chippendale NSW: Resistance Books.
Trotter R (1997) Land Rights, Tourist Rights: Whose rights? Media and Culture Review 1: 1, 10.
Vanclay F and Lawrence G (1995) The Environmental Imperative: Eco-Social Concerns for Australian Agriculture. Rockhampton: Central Queensland University Press.
Watson L (1998) Frontier Lands and Pioneer Legends: How Pastoralists gained Karuwali land. St Leonards NSW: Allen & Unwin.
WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development) (1988) Our Common Future: Australia Edition. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Wild R (1974) Bradstow: A Study of Class, Status and Power in a Small Australian Town. Cremorne, Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
Working Group, Office of the Chief Scientist, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (1995) Sustaining the Agricultural Resource Base. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
eContent Home
