The process of land selection in Queensland in Australia began in 1860. It continued under a series of land acts in subsequent years. When Britain claimed possession of Australia, it did so based on terra nullius (that the land belonged to nobody) and did not acknowledge that Indigenous people had any ownership over the land. All land in Australia became Crown land and was sold or leased by the Australian colonial governments according to the needs of the colonists.
The land was considered the Queensland colony's greatest asset. The prosperity of the colony was measured according to the extent of land settlement. Rent from land leases was the colony's largest revenue earner. The initial political contest was between pastoralists and selectors led by the "town liberals" who desired that immigrants have an equitable right to small land holdings. Closer settlement for agricultural purposes was promoted by the Queensland Government who desired settlement by immigrants to Queensland and exports of agricultural produce and raw materials such as cotton and wool to Britain. No group (pastoralists or town liberals) held dominant control over land policy. Legislation was framed with the aim of a comprehensive land policy. Still,it was changed following to energetic efforts by both groups to interfere in areas of occupancy conditions and priority for selection, and there was tension between free selection and long leases particularly for pastoral class land. Consequently, over 50 principal and amending acts covered all land legislation up to 1910.
Land selection
Queensland governments developed the most comprehensive land legislation and settlement program in Australia in the nineteenth century. The key legislation for land selections since 1860 were:
Crown Lands Alienation Act 1860
Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868
Land Act 1876
Crown Lands Act 1884
Land Act 1897
Land Act 1902
Closer Settlement Act 1906
Land Act 1910
The bulk of the land selection in Queensland occurred under the first six acts listed above. There were various land acts in between these dates which dealt with a variety of specialized land settlement policies and developments e.g. village settlements in country areas (very small blocks), commune settlements (1890s), irrigation developments etc. Village settlement land files are held by the Queensland State Archives. Files on the communes have not survived within the Queensland Government.
The various land schemes had many different types of selections. With the opening of new settlement areas the first selections were managed by the relevant agent for that land district. If the land settlement in the new areas was rapid, a new land district was often formed e.g. Cairns – Port Douglas; Cardwell – Innisfail. Land was defined as agricultural, first class pastoral or second class pastoral under the Crown Lands Alienation Act 1868, under which the initial land selection in the colony was done.
The key public servants were the land commissioners, land agents, surveyors and land inspectors. Their roles brought ordered processes and accepted administrative arrangement understood by the selectors.
A proclamation in the Queensland Government Gazette detailed the level of annual rent and the portions of land available for selection and closing date and place for applications to be received. The minimum age for a selector was 16 years and the applicant had to be a natural-born British subject or naturalised British subject; companies could not apply. Selection was competitive. If the applicant was successful, the selector paid the first year's rent and survey fee. The selection was not capable of being mortgaged or transferred (except in the case of death of the licensee). Land orders (often received as an inducement to immigrate to Queensland) could be used in payment of the deposit for a selection. Having obtained access to the land, there were conditions that the selector had to meet. Typically the selector had to "improve" the land by constructing buildings, clearing timber, creating paddocks, building fences, and commencing farming of crops or animals (these conditions were often specified in great detail). The value of each improvement was also stated so that the total invested could be compared to the legislative requirement. Where a selector held several selections located close together the selector could use residence on one as proof of residence for another; however, there were usually limits to the number of selections that a selector could hold in a particular lease area.