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Soldier settlement
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Soldier settlement
Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlements were co-ordinated by the Commonwealth Soldier Settlement Commission.
Such settlement plans initially began during World War I, with South Australia first enacting legislation in 1915. Similar schemes gained impetus across Australia in February 1916 when a conference of representatives from the Australian Government and all the state governments was held in Melbourne to consider a report prepared by the Federal Parliamentary War Committee regarding the settlement of returned soldiers on the land. The report focused specifically on a federal-state cooperative process of selling or leasing Crown land to soldiers who had been demobilised following the end of their service in this first global conflict. The meeting agreed that it was the Australian Government's role to select and acquire land whilst the State government authorities would process applications and grant land allotments.
Crown land was used where possible, but much land was acquired. By 1924, just over 24 million acres (97,000 km2) had been acquired or allocated. Of this nearly 6.3 million acres (25,000 km2) was purchased and 18 million acres (73,000 km2) was crown land set aside. 23.2 million acres (93,900 km2) had been allotted 23,367 farms across Australia.
Other than supporting soldiers and sailors that were returning from those wars the various governments also saw the opportunity of attracting both Australians and specific groups of allied service personnel to some of the otherwise little inhabited, remote areas of Australia. Although the Australian Government held responsibility for defence, and thus might have taken responsibility for demobilised soldiers, it was the states which took responsibility for land settlement and thus enacted separate soldier settlement schemes. The states also wished to take an active role in recognising the contribution of soldiers.
In addition to soldiers, nurses and female relatives of deceased soldiers were also able to apply for the scheme. However, in cases where women did take on land, they were often given little chance to succeed. Annie Smith, a returned nurse who began a dairy farm in Thorpdale, near Moe was repeatedly criticised by overseers from the Closer Settlement Board for having to hire labour to do some of the more difficult physical tasks. The Board disregarded the fact that the plot she had been assigned had no water, and that Smith often obtained local labour for free, swapping nursing advice for one-off jobs. In 1926 Smith vacated the lot, with no war pension left and mounting debt. Confounding the Board's assumption that her status as a single woman had rendered her unequal to the task, the two subsequent male owners of the property also failed to make the land profitable.
Areas that gained such settlements included:
By 30 June 1924 a total of 23,367 returned soldiers and sailors had taken up settlement farms on 23,275,380 acres (94,192 km2) across Australia as per the following breakdown:
The procedure of supporting such soldiers was repeated after World War II with all Australian state governments using the previous and amended forms of such acts of parliament to reinvigorate the programme for this new generation of returned soldiers.
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Soldier settlement
Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlements were co-ordinated by the Commonwealth Soldier Settlement Commission.
Such settlement plans initially began during World War I, with South Australia first enacting legislation in 1915. Similar schemes gained impetus across Australia in February 1916 when a conference of representatives from the Australian Government and all the state governments was held in Melbourne to consider a report prepared by the Federal Parliamentary War Committee regarding the settlement of returned soldiers on the land. The report focused specifically on a federal-state cooperative process of selling or leasing Crown land to soldiers who had been demobilised following the end of their service in this first global conflict. The meeting agreed that it was the Australian Government's role to select and acquire land whilst the State government authorities would process applications and grant land allotments.
Crown land was used where possible, but much land was acquired. By 1924, just over 24 million acres (97,000 km2) had been acquired or allocated. Of this nearly 6.3 million acres (25,000 km2) was purchased and 18 million acres (73,000 km2) was crown land set aside. 23.2 million acres (93,900 km2) had been allotted 23,367 farms across Australia.
Other than supporting soldiers and sailors that were returning from those wars the various governments also saw the opportunity of attracting both Australians and specific groups of allied service personnel to some of the otherwise little inhabited, remote areas of Australia. Although the Australian Government held responsibility for defence, and thus might have taken responsibility for demobilised soldiers, it was the states which took responsibility for land settlement and thus enacted separate soldier settlement schemes. The states also wished to take an active role in recognising the contribution of soldiers.
In addition to soldiers, nurses and female relatives of deceased soldiers were also able to apply for the scheme. However, in cases where women did take on land, they were often given little chance to succeed. Annie Smith, a returned nurse who began a dairy farm in Thorpdale, near Moe was repeatedly criticised by overseers from the Closer Settlement Board for having to hire labour to do some of the more difficult physical tasks. The Board disregarded the fact that the plot she had been assigned had no water, and that Smith often obtained local labour for free, swapping nursing advice for one-off jobs. In 1926 Smith vacated the lot, with no war pension left and mounting debt. Confounding the Board's assumption that her status as a single woman had rendered her unequal to the task, the two subsequent male owners of the property also failed to make the land profitable.
Areas that gained such settlements included:
By 30 June 1924 a total of 23,367 returned soldiers and sailors had taken up settlement farms on 23,275,380 acres (94,192 km2) across Australia as per the following breakdown:
The procedure of supporting such soldiers was repeated after World War II with all Australian state governments using the previous and amended forms of such acts of parliament to reinvigorate the programme for this new generation of returned soldiers.
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