Disputing the Territory: the Payne-Fletcher Report of 1937

McGregor, Russell

Abstract

The Payne-Fletcher Report of 1937 offers an intriguing array of commentary on the environmental attributes of the Northern Territory. It also makes some comments - though far fewer - on the role of Aboriginal people in Territorian life and on the admission of indentured Asian labour. This article sets the report's commentary on both environmental and racial issues in the context of contemporary anxieties over Australia's tropical north. It argues that Payne and Fletcher's most innovative recommendation was for Australians to cease worrying about the Territory's sparse population and focus instead on wringing profit from the land.

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Australian Historical Studies

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1940-5049

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University of Melbourne

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DOI

10.1080/1031461X.2019.1709516