DROUGHT AND RESPONSE TO DROUGHT IN SOUTH WEST QUEENSLAND BY M. J. CAPELL A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (HONOURS) IN THE SCHOOL OF SOCIOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES SYDNEY 1985 ii 7h.e dom.e o/. /2if..enc.e wa/2 de.void o/. af.f. /.u11.nitu11..e, .ev.en o/. a th11.on.e. So h.e R.egan puf.f.ing f.og/2 tog.eth.e.11., /2ma/2hing /2tick/2, c11.umtf.ing /2c11.ut, and wa/2 tuif.ding th.ei11. /.i11./2t /.i11..e. Sympathy, R11.if.f.ianc.e, wa11.mth did not, how.ev.e.11., immediat.efy f.eap only a 11.ath.e.11. di/2appointing /.f.am.e·. It wa/2 a v.e11.y human /.i11..e. (Patrick White, 1971:191). iii ABSTRACT This study is about a people's response to the impact of a natural hazard a prolonged drought in south west Queensland. The focus is on people in different class and status group situations in the Paroo Shire, a wool growing centre. The data was gathered from: local people attached to the wool industry graziers, shearers, station employees; and people employed by government and private enterprise bureaucracies. Old people, children and women also contribute their subjective experience of drought in a semi-arid region of Australia. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 DROUGHT RESPONSE IN TWENTIETH 1 CENTURY AUSTRALIA 2 AUSTRALIAN STUDIES AND PERSPECTIVES 12 ON DROUGHT AND DISASTER 3 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND 49 RESEARCH STRATEGIES 4 HISTORY, POLITY, ECONOMY AND 77 DROUGHT 5 THE EXPERIENCE OF DROUGHT: 107 IMPRESSIONS ON THE AGED, CHILDREN AND WOMEN OF PAROO SHIRE 6 THE GRAZIERS 134 7 BURGESSES, EMPLOYEES, ABORIGINALS 159 8 THE SPIRALISTS 197 9 RESPONSES TO DROUGHT 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY 254 APPENDIX 1:1 QUEENSLAND AREA AND POPULATION 264 2:1 QUEENSLAND LOCAL AUTHORITIES 265 3:1 LIST OF RESPONDENTS 266 3:2 INTERVIEW SCHEDULES 272 3:3 FIELD RESEARCH 288 3:4 MEDIA SEARCH 289 4:1 DROUGHT FREQUENCY 1964 - 1980 291 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A deep appreciation for assistance in answering my many questions is extended to people in varied walks of life in the bush and in the city, to people who spend their day out in the open under the western skies, and to those whose day is spent in various types of city buildings. Each gave me their interest and their time displaying a kindness and warmth that is human and universal, and recognizes no rural - urban dichotomy. I wish to thank people in the School of Sociology in the University of New South Wales who were helpful, sharing their knowledge and expertise in field research. To Frances Lovejoy my first tutor and to Ann Daniel who finally enabled me to extricate myself from 'inside the whale', I extend a warm thank you for their unstinting patience. I needed time to leave the outback station to travel to the city and the weeks I planned to spend away often extended to months. For allowing me this time by coping alone on 'Yerinan' station I owe my deep appreciation to my husband Jim. He also provided background knowledge of various subject areas as veterinarian and grazier. Jim also performed the task essential when field vi research is undertaken by a lone researcher allowing a perspective of social situations from the view­ point of the opposite gender. Liza-Jane my young daughter graduated to high school in the months following the break of the drought despite the changes in school venue my studies imposed upon her, from a schoolroom at a station homestead where she was the only pupil, to a city schoolroom. I thank her, and my other children, Peter, Genevieve and Susan for their support and enthusiasm. Jan Noble and Marie McKenzie typed this report and shared with me their sense of humour and patience, to Jan and Marie and to the many librarians who helped me along the way and who also displayed these qualities, I extend a sincere thank you. 1 CHAPTER 1: DROUGHT RESPONSE IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AUSTRALIA A prolonged drought extending over a wide area of the eastern States of Australia between the years 1979 and 1983 brought to public attention the impact of drought on people who live in the inland regions. Various Government officials, people engaged in agriculture and economics and others professing an interest in politics or religion were called upon by the media to address problems associated with drought. My concern is to discover and understand how people of a remote wool growing centre in south west Queensland respond to drought. An official 'drought declaration' was made in August 1979 for western Paroo Shire. This was fallowed a few months later by drought declaration applying to the remainder of the Shire area. Drought was extensive and prolonged, the declarations were not lifted until June 1983. The Paroo Shire lies in the Warrego region in the semi-arid pastoral zone. The Shire has a low density population there are 2 691 people in an area of 47 617 square kilometres (see Appendix 2 1 : 1 ) . The people who live in the rural region and in three small hamlets Wyandra, Eulo and Yowah number 1 064 and there are 1 627 people in the service centre of Cunnamulla (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1981). Drought declaration is the responsibility of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. Immediately drought is declared 'core arrangements' funded by government are introduced. These are based on the government policy to save the agricultural resources and in the Paroo Shire the administration of drought relief schemes is directed toward clearing the agricultural lands of surplus stock in a bid to save the land resource. The State Government subsidies of most relevance in the Paroo include freight costs as sheep and cattle are transported out of the drought stricken region and drought bonds that allow a taxation spread of income from stock sold due to drought (Sturgess, 1975; Stock Inspector - Cunnamulla). As drought deepened further government concessions were quickly introduced. In 1980, transport rebates were increased and concessions were extended to cover droving costs and small business carry -on loans were also added to the 3 list of drought relief schemes. These concessions were expected to benefit everyone in the local co mm unity by means of a f 1 ow - on effect as they indirectly boosted the local economy. But the grazier was perceived as the major beneficiary. Comments recorded from media reports expressed the view that small businesses in rural townships were forgotten. The discussions of drought relief schemes were chiefly addressed to the problems of graziers and small business people. Little attention was given to other groups found women, children, the aged, the station employees or the shearing team work force. As I spoke to people in varied walks of life I found that each group in each social° division told a different story their subjective experience of drought was different from others. An examination of these different experiences in the different phases of drought appeared to offer the most fruitful approach to a field of social inquiry that has been given little attention by sociologists in their studies of Australian communities. Drought declaration brought a local awareness of climatic conditions as they influenced agricultural work. However, more serious fears were expressed 4 for the weather pattern appeared to be in a process of change. The months between October 1979 and March 1980, were dry months and this was the third successive summer to pass without beneficial rainfall. While winter rain is important it is summer rain that provides the bulk of stock feed, more than 90 per cent of the vegetation growth in south west Queensland (Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Charleville). As 'old timers' of the bush spoke of the successive dry summers they could not recall a weather pattern of this nature. A search of the official rainfall charts dating bacl~ over the past century confirmed their observations and also showed that never before had three successive dry summers been experienced in the history of the local wool growing industry (Queensland Bureau of Meteorology, 1980). Studies carried out in other countries have set each drought in its · particular cultural environment. These studies show people of very different cultures surviving drought primarily by means of strategies developed and handed on over generations. Weber emphasized the divergent ways people respond to climatic change and prompted my interpretation of the 'subjective meaning' of drought. My orientation was set by the observation: 5 In cases where, through such factors as climatic changes •.• there has been an absolute decrease in the means of subsistence, human groups have adapted themselves in widely differing ways according to the structure of interest and to the ways in which non-economic factors have been involved (Weber, 1964:167). Also there will most typically be a fall in the standard of living and an 'absolute decrease in population' (1964:167). The immediate prospect presented to people of the Paroo was at least some minor change in their lifestyle when their economic activities were restricted by prolonged drought. But a more profound consequence considered and expressed was that the continuity of the grazing world as known, was becoming increasingly problematic. This was a very serious problem for western people who have no alternative industrial activity to turn to for employment. The Paroo Shire is a single industry grazing centre remote from the differentiated employment market of the densely populated coastal cities. It lies more than 800 kilometres west from Brisbane and 1 100 kilometres from Sydney.