- Water for rural production in New South Wales on a large-scale,
through irrigation, was first undertaken by government (pp.8-12, 15-17, 19-22,
26-30, 35-36).
- Government administration of irrigation was originally allied
to a policy of populating the interior of New South Wales (pp. 8-9, 13, 27).
- Fruit growing, and later rice growing, on small holdings were
part of the envisaged means of peopling the interior (pp. 11, 23).
- California was a particular point of reference (pp. 2, 5-8,
10-12, 23).
- A limited government endorsement of private irrigation occurred
during the 1920s and 1930s (pp. 17-19).
- Cautions were expressed, not long after large-scale irrigation
was commenced, regarding the worth of attempting to farm in the arid zones of
Australia (pp. 24-25).
- Cautions have been continuously expressed about the possible
adverse environmental effects of large-scale irrigation (pp. 25, 52-55).
- Peopling the interior, as a policy, was gradually abandoned
during the 1950s and 1960s (p.31).
- Governments gave greater endorsement, during the late 1940s, to
private involvement in irrigation as government began to subsequently
reconsider, and withdraw from sponsoring large-scale irrigation (pp. 30-31).
- Government control, over the provision of water for rural
production, also began to change as fruit growing, and rice growing, on
smallholdings began to decline, and cotton growing on large holdings began to
increase (pp. 32, 34-35, 37-45, 48-52).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Warren Musgrave, Tony McGlynn and Robert Towne for
their assistance with this paper.
All responsibility for content, however, remains with the author and with
the Library.
