Week 3 - Pastoral Expansion and Retreat Flashcards
What is staples theory?
Started by Harold Innis, Staples theory was designed to explain how Canadian development was driven by a series of ‘staples/ developed for export. At any point, the economy is reliant on a staple, although this staple may change over time.
What was the first staple and why?
Whaling - It was a strategic good (main source of oil) and at the time US whalers were becoming increasingly dominant while Britain put taxes in place to protect is own domestic interests so we had to find ways to avoid these.
Whaling reduced the cost of convict transport as ships could return with oil. Furthermore, it stimulated ship building and created demand for supplies.
What was the Bigge Report?
The Bigge Report (1822) was critical of Macquarie’s administration claiming there was too much convict labour used for public construction and that the policy of supporting emancipists (ex-convicts) was not deterring people from crime. Essentially, it saw the administration as not punishing convicts enough.
The Bigge Report saw the wool industry as key as it punished convicts while also being profitable. It supported an assignment system used to allocate labour to pastoralists.
When did wool become dominant?
The wool industry has been important to Australia’s economy since the 1820’s but was particularly important throughout 1860 to 1890, accounting for a significant share of export revenue.
In 1871, wool surpassed gold and spice as Australia’s most valuable export
Why was wool so dominant (7 reasons)?
1) Australia’s landscape was well suited to the industry with plenty of grazing land and relatively mild winters.
2) The industry was not excessively labour intensive
3) wool is non-perishable with a high value-to-weight ratio
4) The spread of technology such as river boats, railways and fencing made the inland expansion easier while reducing transportation costs, allowing the industry to become more efficient and to grow.
5) At the time, countries including Britain, France and Germany were experiencing high population growth and there was greater emphasis on using land to produce food. Consequently, demand for wool increased while domestic supply in these countries was declining, stimulating the Australian wool industry.
6) Flock sizes grow naturally
7) Modest technology requirements
What are 5 disadvantages of wool as a staple?
1) Frontier conflict/violence became more common as pastoralists expanded territory and the sheep ate the grass needed for Kangaroos
2) Environmental degradation
3) Reliance of fluctuation international prices
4) Labour supply became expensive after convict transportation ended in 1840 and the gold rush took labour
5) Vulnerable to environmental factors such as floods, droughts etc.
Who were the squatters?
At the time, land was sold within the 19 counties at a price paid above what poor people could afford. Migration of poor people as workers was subsidised with this money (1830s). Squatters used lad outside of the counties to circumvent this.
Given the returns on wool squatters and pastoralists wielded significant political and economic power.
How did rural diversification start and why?
It was unclear if the high standards of living obtained through the success of the wool industry could be maintained and other sources of growth were being sought after, particularly as wool is no labour intensive and does not have many second-round effects.
A class of small farmers began after the selection act which allowed them to access more land and led to the diversification of the economy. Legislation broke down the dominance of large pastoralists
