Northern optimism: the preliminary scientific expedition to the Northern Territory, 1911

[Extract] One of the Commonwealth Government's first actions on acquiring responsibility for the Northern Territory in 1911 was to send a party of scientific experts to assess its potential for settlement and development. The main party, designated the Preliminary Scientific Expedition to the Northern Territory, comprised anthropologist and biologist W Baldwin Spencer, veterinary scientist JA Gilruth, tropical medical expert Anton Breinl and geologist WG Woolnough. There was also an agricultural scientist, WS Campbell, who toured the Territory just before the main party but whose investigations can be considered part of the same scientific enterprise. It was certainly an innovative and adventurous scientific enterprise: a multidisciplinary team of experts, appointed by the state to provide a holistic appraisal of the human and natural resources of a substantial portion of the national territory. It may have seemed that a new era was about to dawn in the north, with the resources of the state mobilised for the scientific appraisal of Australia's tropical regions. The expedition's formal designation as 'preliminary' reinforced that impression. In the process of its formation it was clearly understood, by scientists, government ministers, officials and the press, that this expedition would soon be followed by another, much larger and more comprehensive, scientific investigation of the Northern Territory.

Northern Territory historical studies

Northern Territory Historical Studies

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1034-7488

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