Squatters and Selectors: The Waste Lands Acts of Tasmania, 1858-68

The colonies of eastern Australia passed their new land legislation in the years immediately following self-government. Although the land acts were distinctive to each colony, the results in Victoria and New South Wales were generally similar in two ways. Firstly, they provided conditions under which agriculture developed in eastern Australia, and secondly they resulted in conflict between the squatters and the selectors. This article shows how the pattern of events in Tasmania differed and explains why repeated efforts to improve land distribution failed to stimulate the economy quickly.