‘Dumped down in a primeval forest’: WA’s failed Group Settlement Scheme
To promote the scheme, British newspapers published glowing editorials about WA’s profitable farms, while promotional posters of cosy homesteads and paddocks stocked with cows helped romanticise farm life to urban populations. For those living in Britain’s overcrowded and polluted cities, the prospect of owning land was deeply appealing – and, for many, an opportunity that would’ve otherwise been out of reach.
From 1921, thousands of families emigrated from England, Scotland and Wales and settled across south-west WA in ‘group settlements’ at Northcliffe, Manjimup, Busselton, Augusta, Denmark, Pemberton, Margaret River and Karridale. But within four years, the scheme had been deemed a colossal failure and was subject to a royal commission. And of all the group settlements, Northcliffe, about 350km south of Perth, was arguably the most notorious.
Northcliffe began life in 1924, named after the British publishing magnate Lord Northcliffe, whose newspapers had promoted the scheme. The first settlers arrived to discover the townsite and roads were still under construction – and allotted land was cloaked in thick, virgin jarrah–karri forest and shrub. To top it off, the area didn’t have an adequate water supply.
The newly arrived settlers formed groups of up to 20 families and were taken to their designated land that had been selected by WA’s Department of Lands and Surveys. But they couldn’t begin developing their own farms until the land was cleared for all 20 families in the group, so they rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Clearing acre after acre of dense forest and shrub was backbreaking work, especially for city folk unused to manual labour. Men, women and children toiled together, hacking through the bush, plagued by flies and mosquitoes.
Communal land clearing was carried out by all group settlers and would later become one of the most criticised features of the scheme. Settlers were all paid a standard rate, regardless of how much they contributed. The 1925 Royal Commission on Group Settlement reported many settlers became disillusioned after “realising that only one-twentieth of any extra effort directly benefits himself” and abandoned their groups. Settlers had little incentive to work hard because they were all paid the same, regardless of how much they contributed.
Worse still, many settlers didn’t have permanent housing but lived in canvas tents or shacks made from sawmill offcuts or sheets of galvanised iron, which were freezing cold in winter and stifling hot in summer. These harsh conditions caused tempers to fray, often leading to infighting. In 1925 a journalist from The West Australian visited Northcliffe and was sympathetic to these quarrels, noting, “Complete harmony in a group camp could hardly be expected from ministering angels, let alone very human migrants dumped down in a primeval forest, and housed in miserable ill-constructed sheds… I think that if anyone had set himself to design means by which respectable migrants could be made to feel all the misery possible for people in a strange land, he could not have succeeded better.”
Unsurprisingly, many settlers couldn’t cope with these conditions and abandoned the scheme, some even sailing back to Britain. Others toughed it out, thinking their circumstances would improve after they developed their holdings. Once the land was cleared, the government would build cottages for the family as part of the scheme. But contemporary newspapers reveal many Northcliffe settlers continued living in crude iron shacks until at least 1926, perhaps longer.
Life didn’t necessarily improve for settlers after they developed their farms. Their farming inexperience led to high mortality among stock and poor crop yields, a problem made worse by limited access to veterinarians and agricultural advice. Many faced financial hardship. In 1935 a journalist from the Harvey Murray Times reported married men were struggling to support their families on a pitiful £45 yearly income – about $5400 in today’s money. Many were unable to repay the 30-year loan from the Agricultural Bank and feared they’d be evicted from their holdings.
But the great tragedy of the Group Settlement Scheme was that, no matter how earnestly settlers tried to succeed, the lands selected by the government were often totally unsuitable for farming. Hard work, grit and determination counted for little if soil quality was poor. And Northcliffe’s sandy soils meant the venture was doomed from the start.
On 15 September 1927 the Manjimup and Warren Times published a scathing article by an anonymous writer that described Northcliffe as a “swampy piece of ground” with soils that were “dark, sandy [and] water-logged”. The author acknowledged the settlers were inexperienced but noted they had been willing to learn, pointedly asking, “if they have not been taught, are they to be blamed for the lack of such knowledge being a fault of their own?” The article concluded with a caustic observation: “Why are Northcliffe settlers discontented? A town-townsite such as anyone can see before them; four years of labour gone for nothing; four years of life experimented with and wasted and not our fault… No, the group settlement at Northcliffe is not a farce because of the settlers here, but because of the administration it has been subjected to.”
An article published in the Harvey Murray Times on 1 February 1935 also deflects blame from settlers and onto the government: “The attempt of those responsible to rush the scheme to success has led to disaster. No clearer evidence of this could be seen than in the Northcliffe area, where excellently made roads run for miles through vacated holdings! All of which are well fenced, well cleared, and carry good house, sheds, etc., and where only the choice of soil is at fault.”
Despite its turbulent beginnings, some settlers decided to stay put and by the 1930s Northcliffe had found its feet as a sawmill town. Today, it has a population just shy of 300.
The Group Settlement Scheme was abandoned by 1930. In general terms, the scheme was a huge failure that dealt a financial blow to WA. But some group settlements were successful, and these paved the way for the WA dairy industry that continues to this day.
