Abstract
The 1950s and the first half of the 1970s are two significance wet periods during the cool or negative cycle of the Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) from 1947 to 1976. These wet years provided a platform for climate optimism—an attitude that saw the Australian environment as fertile and abundant. Rather than drought being the primary driving force in management decisions, it was rain, both immediate and the memory of it, that was the potent force—one that led to miscalculations about the environmental limits of the continent due to over-optimism. But the apparent abundance of the Australian environment was to be checked by the droughts of the 1960s. This period, from the 1950s through to the end of the 1980s, is fascinating in that it sees climate acting as a boost and check to climate optimism in different segments of the Australian community. For rural producers the wet periods were proof that climate was providing. For governments belief in climate began to decline. This wet period is the source of the disparity in the views of the fertility of the land that was evident by the 1980s.
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Notes
- 1.
“Column Eight”, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 2, 1950.
- 2.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology, “Monthly Rainfall: Sydney (Observatory Hill)”, http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_startYear=&p_stn_num=066062. The 2010 La Niña brought record falls to the Murray-Darling Basin of 794.24 mm, slightly higher than the 1956 figure of 786.53 mm. Australian Bureau of Meteorology, “New South Wales in 2010: La Niña Brings Wettest Year in Half a Century”, http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/nsw/summary.shtml#recordsRainTtlHigh. Australian Bureau of Meteorology, “Australian Mean Rainfall”, in State of the Environment Report 2006, Department of the Environment and Energy, https://www.environment.gov.au/node/22392.
- 3.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s definition of south-eastern Australia is the area east of 135°E and south of 33°S, including Tasmania, http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/about/temp_timeseries.shtml.
- 4.
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- 5.
C.K. Folland, J.A. Renwick, M.J. Sallinger, and A.B. Mullan, “Relative Influences of the Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation and ENSO on the South Pacific Convergence Zone”, Geophysical Research Letters, 29, no. 13, 2002, 1643–1647.
- 6.
Benjamin Henley, Joelle Gergis, David Karoly, Scott Power, John Kennedy, and Chris Folland, “A Tripole Index for the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation”, Climate Dynamics, 45, no. 11–12, 2015, 3077–3090.
- 7.
Geoffrey Bolton, The Oxford History of Australia, Volume 5: The Middle Way 1942–1995, South Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 2001, 91.
- 8.
“Cahill on Reason for Prosperity”, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 7, 1954.
- 9.
The 1953/54 wool clip was estimated early in the season to realise at least a 4 per cent increase over the previous season. “Wool Output Increase is Forecast”, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 10, 1953. The increase in wool production in the decade of the 1950s was marked. Wool production in NSW in 1951 stood at 207,000 tonnes. By 1961 this had increased to 275,000 tonnes and by 1971 293,000 tonnes. Wool production was to peak in 1991 at 300,000 tonnes and was not to regain this volume. Sheep and lamb numbers also increased markedly from 1951 (54,111,000) to 1961 (68,087,000). Wheat production almost doubled from 1951 (1178,000 tonnes) to 1961 (2,304,000 tonnes). Australian Department of Statistics, NSW Year Book, 2004, http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/98887A02E83FC380CA256E6600063306/$File/13001_2004.pdf.
- 10.
“National Prosperity Depends on the Yield of the Land”, The Age, September 24, 1954.
- 11.
I.F. Phipps, “Rural Production has never been Higher”, The Age, September 24, 1954.
- 12.
J.M. Powell, An Historical Geography of Modern Australia, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, 288.
- 13.
D. Palmer, “Western New South Wales—A Miracle of Recovery”, Australian Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 4, 1991, 4–8.
- 14.
For a discussion of Donald Worster’s position on material nature, see Donald Worster, “The Intrinsic Value of Nature”, Environmental Review, 4, no. 1, 1980, 43–49. While views on conservation were apparent at this time, these were more oriented to nature’s utility as a resource rather than to ecological diversity. As Lines has noted: “Conservation was progress, a conscious and purposeful control over nature for the benefit of humankind, an intervention, moreover, which subordinated the aesthetic to the utilitarian…Concern over the unregulated use of natural resources blended harmoniously with the wider goal of efficiency in every phase of life.” William J. Lines, Taming the Great South Land: A History of the Conquest of Nature in Australia, North Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1991, 149.
- 15.
J.M. Powell, An Historical Geography of Modern Australia, 154–155, 160.
- 16.
In 1953–1954 in New South Wales 236 leases, an area of 2916 acres, had been approved near country towns for pig and poultry farming, agriculture, orchard, bee farming and dairying. A.R. Jones, “New South Wales Report of the Under Secretary for Lands for the Year ended 30th June 1954”, Parliament of New South Wales, 1954 (Second Session), Report of the Department of Lands together with Report of the Western Lands Commissioner, Report of the Prickly-Pear Destruction Commissioner and Report of the Surveyor-General under the Survey Co-ordination Act, 1949, for the year ended 30th June, 1954, November 18, 1954, Sydney, A.H. Pettifer, Government Printer, 1955.
- 17.
Sheet, rill, gully and tunnel erosion are caused by water action from high intensity storms and are more common on bared agricultural land or overgrazed pastoral land. NSW Department of Primary Industry, “Soil Erosion Solutions”, http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/255153/fact-sheet-1-types-of-erosion.pdf
- 18.
A further influence on climate is the Indian Ocean Diopole (IOD)—a coupled ocean and atmosphere phenomenon in the equatorial Indian Ocean that affects the climate of Australia and other countries that surround the Indian Ocean basin. An IOD event usually starts around May or June. In this 30-year period, there were seven major La Niñas that had a strong impact. This was a dramatic contrast to the previous two decades which had been predominated by severe droughts. Greg McKeon, Wayne Hall, Beverley Henry, Grant Stone and Ian Watson, eds, Pasture Degradation and Recovery in Australia’s Rangelands: Learning from History, Indooroopilly, Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy 2004, 20.
- 19.
“We Could Make Much More of Bountiful Seasons”, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 1952. Australian Bureau of Meteorology, “El Niño—Detailed Australian Analysis”, http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/enlist/index.shtml.
- 20.
This aversion to burning off in the exceptionally wet period of the 1950s and the subsequent invasion of woody weeds was noted in a report by an interdepartmental committee to the New South Wales Minister for Lands in 1968. Quoted in Greg McKeon et al., Pasture Degradation and Recovery in Australia’s Rangelands, 130–135. A later study of land degradation in New South Wales concluded: “Woody shrubs (woody weeds) are inedible native plants that are rapidly infesting large areas of the semi-arid and arid regions of New South Wales. Their distribution and density are increasing owing to favourable environmental conditions and lower incidence of fire.” O.P. Graham, K.A. Emery, N.A. Abraham, D. Johnston, V.J. Pattemore, and G.M. Cunningham, “Land Degradation Survey of New South Wales: 1987–88”, Sydney, Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales, 1989.
- 21.
“Record Wool Cheque”, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 21, 1950. Prosperity in the wool industry peaked in 1950–51 when the average greasy wool price reached 144.2 pence per pound. This was nine times greater than the 1945–46 United Kingdom contract price, and almost 14 times greater than the average for the 10 seasons ending in 1938–39 (10.39 pence per pound). Australian Bureau of Statistics, “The Wool Industry—Looking Back and Forward”, Canberra, Year Book Australia, 2003, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/featurearticlesbyCatalogue/1476D522EBE22464CA256CAE0015BAD4?OpenDocument.
- 22.
L. Lancaster, “Australia and Her Wool Competitors: Lead in Quantity and Quality Not Just Due to Luck”, Muster. The Journal of the Graziers’ Association of NSW, 1, no. 10, June 21, 1951, 9.
- 23.
The Principles of Rural Policy in Australia: A Discussion Paper, Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1974.
- 24.
John McEwen, Agricultural Production Aims and Policy, Canberra, Government Printer, 1952, 1, 3.
- 25.
John McEwen, Agricultural Production Aims and Policy, 1–18.
- 26.
C. J. Lloyd, “McEwen, Sir John (1900–1980)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, 15, Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 2000, 205–208. “Bolder Plan on Dollar Trade: Minister’s Opinion”, The Sydney Morning Herald, March 11, 1950.
- 27.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology, “La Niña—Detailed Australian Analysis”, http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/lnlist/index.shtml.
- 28.
“Quality of Wheat will Vary: Effect of Rains”, The Sydney Morning Herald, December 15, 1950.
- 29.
“Wheat Growers Have Good Season Ahead”, The Sydney Morning Herald, October 17, 1950.
- 30.
“Market for Store Cattle Soars”, The Sydney Morning Herald, October 13, 1950. Australian Bureau of Statistics, “Australia’s Beef Cattle Industry”, Canberra, Year Book Australia, 2005, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article232005?opendocument.
- 31.
“Floods Hit Milk Zone”, The Sydney Morning Herald, June 13, 1950.
- 32.
“The Menace of Soil Erosion”, The Pastoral Review and Graziers’ Record, 60, January 19, 1950, 1.
- 33.
C.K. Jacka, “Our Wealth is Soil and Water: Conservation Vital to Meet Nation’s Needs”, Muster: The Journal of the Graziers’ Association of New South Wales, 1, August 30, 1951, 20.
- 34.
John McEwen, Agricultural Production Aims and Policy, 10.
- 35.
“Fodder Waste: Farmers Warned”, The Sydney Morning Herald, December 15, 1950. “Prepare for Drought Experts Warn”, Muster: The Journal of the Graziers’ Association of NSW, 15, January 17, 1956, 41.
- 36.
“We Could Make Much More of Bountiful Seasons”, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 6, 1952.
- 37.
“What is Wealth?”, The Northern Argus, June 2, 1954.
- 38.
G.L. McClymont, “Hand Feeding of Sheep”, The Agricultural Gazette, August 1956, 394–397.
- 39.
G.L. McClymont, “Hand Feeding of Sheep”, 395.
- 40.
The figures for the Mitchell and Lockhardt shires respectively show an increase of 800 and 400 per cent, 1946/7 15,731 acres, 30,641; 1954/55 111,015, 138,555. “Absolute Nonsense!”, The Agricultural Gazette, June 1956, 281. E. Tindale, “Farming in the Skeleton Weed Areas of the Wagga District”, The Agricultural Gazette, December 1956, 653.
- 41.
The Principles of Rural Policy in Australia: A Discussion Paper, Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1974, 20.
- 42.
The bid by pastoralists to have the base shearing rate lowered was tied to a fall in wool prices from 85d per pound in March 1952 to 78d per pound in March 1953. “Wool Industry ‘Far Too Rich’”, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 1, 1953.
- 43.
G. Crawford, C.M. Donald., C.P. Dowsett, D.B. Williams, and A.A. Ross, Wartime Agriculture in Australia and New Zealand 1939–50, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1954, 180.
- 44.
Arthur F. Bell, “Science Services for Primary Industry”, The Agricultural Gazette of NSW, 47, October 1956, 512–521.
- 45.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2004, “100 Years of change in Australian Industry” Australian System of National Accounts 2003–04, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf.
- 46.
Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Historical Trends in Australian Agricultural Production, Exports, Farm Incomes and Indexes of Prices Received and Paid By Farmers: 1952–53 to 1978–79, Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1980, 20.
- 47.
Harold Bartlett, “Implications of Pasture Development: Planning can be Either Complete or Partial”, Muster: The Journal of the Graziers’ Association of NSW, 5, no. 29, October 25, 1955, 9.
- 48.
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- 49.
Harold Bartlett, “Implications of Pasture Development”.
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G. Crawford et al., Wartime Agriculture in Australia and New Zealand 1939–50, 188.
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- 52.
Principles of Rural Policy in Australia, 20.
- 53.
“1956—The Year of Return to Realities”, Muster: The Journal of the Graziers’ Association of NSW, 5, January 3, 1956, 39.
- 54.
“Successful Field Day at Grafton”, Muster: The Journal of the Graziers’ Association of NSW, 5, no. 7, May 24, 1955, 4.
- 55.
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- 56.
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“A ‘Close Shave’”, The Pastoral Review and Graziers’ Record, 64, no. 11, November 16, 1954, 1325.
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Henry Lamond, “Scrub Cutting”, The Pastoral Review and Graziers’ Record, 66, no. 8, August 16, 1956, 1151.
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- 67.
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- 72.
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- 73.
J.M. Powell, An Historical Geography of Modern Australia, 234–235.
- 74.
This chapter explores climate optimism in the 1950s and early 1970s. Chapter 7 demonstrates the impact of this wet period on views of rural producers in the 1980s.
- 75.
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- 76.
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- 77.
The rural recession, the resort again to technology and apparent loss of public sympathy for the rural sector by an increasingly urbanised Australian population, will be more critically discussed in the following chapter.
- 78.
The views of the rural sector will be surveyed here while the divergent views of governments and planners and the environmental lobby will be the subject of the two following chapters.
- 79.
Dalgetty Australia announced a profit of $943,000 for the six months to December 1971 in contrast to a loss of $323,000 for the same period the previous year. Pioneer Sugar Mills Ltd announced a 28 per cent annual rise in profit to $1,808,000. “What Rural Recession?”, The Pastoral Review and Graziers’ Record, 82, no. 3, March 17, 1972, 98.
- 80.
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- 81.
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- 83.
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- 84.
J.M. Powell, An Historical Geography of Modern Australia: 202–203. The concern about the impact on the environment from international investment is discussed in Chap. 7.
- 85.
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- 88.
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- 105.
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- 106.
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- 108.
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- 109.
In 1976 the stock figures for the Western Division were 9,770,636 sheep equivalents, higher than the 30-year average of 8,104,000 and the 75-year average of 7,102,045. Parliament of New South Wales, Report of the Western Lands Commission, 26–28.
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Miller, J. (2019). A Run of Good Seasons (1950–59 and 1970–76). In: La Niña and the Making of Climate Optimism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76141-1_6
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