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| caption2 = Colonial artist [[S. T. Gill]] supports [[Aboriginal land rights in Australia|Aboriginal land rights]] and condemns the Squattocracy in ''Squatter of N. S. Wales: Monarch of all he Surveys, 1788'' (above) and ''Squatter of N. S. Wales: Monarch of more than all he Surveys, 1863'' (below).
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The term ''[[squatter]]'' derives from its English usage as a term of contempt for a person who had taken up residence at a place without having legal claim. The use of ''squatter'' in the early years of British settlement of [[Australian history|Australia]] had a similar connotation, referring primarily to a person who had
From the mid-1820s, however, the occupation of
The term soon developed a class association, suggesting an elevated socio-economic status and entrepreneurial attitude. By 1840 squatters were recognized as being amongst the wealthiest men in the colony of New South Wales, many of them from upper and middle-class English and Scottish families. As unoccupied land with [[frontage]] to permanent water became more scarce, the acquisition of runs increasingly required larger capital outlays. A "run" is defined in [[Christopher Pemberton Hodgson]]'s 1846 ''Reminiscences of Australia, with Hints on the Squatter's Life'' as: "land claimed by the Squatter as sheepwalks, open, as nature left them, without any improvement from the Squatter."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hodgson|first1=Christopher Pemberton|title=Reminiscences of Australia with Hints on the Squatter's Life|year=1846|publisher=W.N. Wright|location=Pall Mall|page=[https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesau00hodggoog/page/n33 13]|url=https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesau00hodggoog|access-date=9 February 2018}}</ref>
Eventually the term ''squatter'' came to refer to a person of high social prestige who grazes livestock on a large scale (whether the station was held by [[Leasehold estate|leasehold]] or [[Freehold (law)|freehold]] title). In Australia the term is still used to describe large landowners, especially in rural areas with a history of pastoral occupation. The term ''
==Background and history==
When the [[First Fleet]] established a settlement at [[Sydney Cove]] in 1788 the colonial government claimed to own all of Australia east of the [[135th meridian east]], ignoring any [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] claims to the land. Land that had been deemed
During [[Thomas Brisbane|Governor Brisbane's]] term, however, land grants were more readily made. In addition regulations introduced during Brisbane's term enabled settlers to purchase (with his permission) up to 4,000 acres (16 km<sup>2</sup>) at 5s an acre (with superior quality land priced at 7s 6d). During Governor Brisbane's four years in office the total amount of land in private hands virtually doubled.<ref>La Croix, Sumner J., 'Sheep, Squatters, and the Evolution of Land Rights in Australia: 1787-1847' (University of Hawaii-Manoa) – paper presented at "Inequality and the Commons", 3rd annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Washington DC, USA, 18–20 September 1992.</ref>
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The impetus for squatting activities during this early phase was an expanding market for meat as the population of Sydney increased. The first steps in establishing wool production in New South Wales also created an increased demand for land. Squatting activity was often carried out by emancipist and native-born colonists as they sought to define and consolidate their place within society.<ref>Denholm, David, 'Squatting', ''The Oxford Companion to Australian History'', edited by Graeme Davidson, John Hirst & Stuart MacIntyre, Oxford University Press, 1998.</ref>
===Darling and the
[[File:Aboriginal attack Lake Hope.jpg|thumb|Warfare between squatters and Aboriginal people in South Australia]]
[[File:Ways and Means 1845.jpg|thumb|1845 political cartoon by Edward Winstanley, critical of Governor [[George Gipps]]' land reforms]]
From 1824 there were acts and regulations to limit squatting. The
From 1836 legislation was passed to legalise squatting with [[grazing rights]] available for ten pounds per year. This fee was for a lease of the land, rather than ownership, which is what the squatters wanted. The 1847 [[Orders in Council]] divided land into settled, intermediate and unsettled areas, with pastoral leases of one, eight and 14 years for each category respectively. From here on, squatters were able to purchase parts of their land, as opposed to just leasing it.
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In April 1844 [[George Gipps|Governor Gipps]] made two regulations with the intention of remodelling the squatting system. The first, gazetted on 2 April, permitted squatters to occupy runs on payment of £10 for every {{convert|20|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}}. The second regulation allowed squatters after 5 years occupancy to purchase {{convert|320|acre|hectare}} of a run and gave purchasers security of tenure over a whole run for another 8 years. 150 squatters gathered in Sydney later in the month of April and protested against Gipps's changes drafting a petition to the Queen and forming the [[Pastoral Association of New South Wales]] - the first formalising of the identity of squatters as a political group.
A large squatting demonstration was held in [[Melbourne]] in June 1844. The lessees of the Crown lands came into Melbourne on horseback, and marched to the place of the meeting with flags flying, preceded by a Highland piper playing martial airs. At this meeting petitions were adopted to be transmitted to the several branches of the Home and Colonial Legislatures, requesting alterations in the law of Crown lands and a total separation from the Middle District (New South Wales). A new association was formed at this meeting, and designated the
===Legislation to allow selection===
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====New South Wales====
[[File:Squatting districts, New South Wales, Australia, 1844.jpg|thumb|Map of squatting districts in New South Wales in 1844.]]
The squatters' grip on agricultural land in the colony of New South Wales was challenged in the 1860s with the passing of [[Robertson Land Acts|Land Acts]] that allowed those with limited means to acquire land. With the stated intention of encouraging closer settlement and fairer allocation of land by allowing
Both selectors and squatters used the broad framework of the Land Acts to maximise their advantages in the ensuing scramble for land. There was a general manipulation of the system by squatters, selectors and profiteers alike. The legislation secured access to the squatter's land for the selector, but thereafter effectively left him to fend for himself. Amendments passed in 1875 sought to remedy some of the abuses perpetrated under the original selection legislation.
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In ''[[Phryne Fisher|Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries]]'', the title character, The Honourable Phyrne Fisher, is resistant to her class and acts as a contrast to her Aunt Prudence, who typifies grazier and squattocracy snobbery.
The film ''[[Australia (2008 film)|Australia]]'' deals with the failure of many large grazier properties in the mid-twentieth century, as well as the Squattocracy's close historic links with the British Aristocracy, with whom they frequently intermarried. The film's star, [[Nicole Kidman]], is herself a relative of the prominent
The strategy board game ''[[Squatter (game)|Squatter]]'' is named for the term.
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==See also==
{{Portal|Agriculture and Agronomy}}
*[[Pastoralism
*[[Adverse
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