The river Murray as a transport conduit and political barrier: ‘Following the course of that friendly river’ in trade, transport and diplomacy, 1836–1901

In 1901 the British Parliament approved the Federation of its Australian Colonies to create the Commonwealth of Australia as a Dominion within the British Empire, ending half a century of border difficulties at a time when a developing settler community was establishing its economic viability. This research examines how the Murray River between Albury in the colony of New South Wales (NSW), and Echuca in Victoria (known as ‘the Upper Murray’), took on dual but contradictory roles. In the absence of developed land transport systems, rivers became avenues of access for the settlement and exploitation of hinterland regions. The Murray River developed as an invaluable transport link between a part of inland Australia and world markets. But it also acted as a physical and political divide between adjacent colonies, following the establishment of South Australia in 1836, and separation of the Port Phillip District from NSW to form the colony of Victoria in 1850. The development of the paddle steamer trade was essential to the Murray River's role as a transport link. The operation of commercial paddle steamers on the Upper Murray lasted only a few decades, but it provided vital trade, communications, and transport links during a period marked by Britain's industrial revolution (which demanded more raw wool), and the dramatic population inflow resulting from gold discoveries in Australia. This thesis contends that the Upper Murray and Riverina communities were influenced by, and reacted to, the development of steam navigation and to the decisions of the Imperial Parliament that made the river a colonial, or quasi-national border, allowing the individual colonial governments to make decisions in their own perceived best interests. The steam trade also fostered problems and movements for separation, annexation, and federation.

Human activity occurs within the bounds of unique bio-physical environments and can be influenced by those environments through direct exploitation or modification to make them more amenable to intended human activity. Just as the Indigenous people have significant belonging to, and influence over the environment, so European and other new settlers influenced the environment and become part of it. Early European settlers saw the Murray River system as valuable but difficult resource to exploit. By the time steamer traffic began on the river, for example, the difficulties posed by fallen trees were well known. Clearing the river for navigation was envisioned as enhancing access to wider markets, but the perceived benefits of a navigable river differed between the colonies. Governments were pressured to help overcome some of the problems the river posed to navigation, leading to discussion, and sometimes disagreement, between the colonial governments on strategies to realise this perceived potential.

Victoria, NSW, and South Australia were colonies within the British Empire and as such were subject to no over-riding local authority, allowing them to legislate in their own perceived best interests within the parameters set by the Imperial Power. The decision of the British Parliament to establish South Australia, to allow the separation of Victoria from NSW along the Murray River, and to grant each colony a degree of responsible government with the ability to determine its own but non-discriminatory customs regimes, made the river border a political barrier to the movement of both goods and people. The decree that colonial tariffs must be non-discriminatory made it unlawful for a colony to grant favourable tariff conditions to its neighbours. The tariff rate charged on a particular good imported into Victoria from NSW, or between any two colonies, was required to be the same as that charged on the same good imported from another colony, from Britain, or from any other country. Such a condition made it impossible for the Australian Colonies to develop a free trade union. The need of colonial governments for revenue, and the pressure to protect domestic industries, influenced decisions about import duties. This broader picture was not always seen or appreciated by border residents who reacted to border tariffs as they experienced their effects. The subsequent border imposed at the Murray split settler communities that were accustomed to free movement of materials and people across the river. The Upper Murray and Riverina areas are closer to Melbourne than to Sydney, making the former a more attractive business centre and port. The development of the rail network from Melbourne to the Murray strengthened this attraction. As the Upper Murray and Riverina are within the economic hinterland of Melbourne, border crossings into and from Victoria were vital for trade and intercourse. The Murray River thus acted as a quasi-international border for customs purposes. Proximate riverine communities were subject to the same tariff regimes as trade with a distant country. The conditions for border crossings of merchandise and people also depended on the changing policies of colonial governments. Different customs regimes, and the restrictions placed on free trade between the colonies, were particularly resented in border communities and influenced attitudes toward colonial legislatures based in the coastal capitals. These border customs issues are frequently seen in the light of intercolonial debates between city-based legislatures. This thesis examined community reactions to customs issues, as expressed in the local press, or by correspondents to the broader colonial press. The research utilised newspapers and government gazettes which provide contemporary accounts of legislative decisions and events both local, colonial, and empire wide. Opinions and attitudes prevalent in the border communities were expressed through reports of meetings, editorials, and correspondence from readers. Newspapers often set the agenda for these debates and supplied interpretative framework to make sense of border issues.

The Murray River was unique in Australia as the only transport artery that served as a colonial border. Prior to the development of the colonial rail systems, river transport, where practicable, was the most cost-effective way of moving wool to the ocean port in South Australia. The coincidence of the steamer route lying along the river that formed the intercolonial border between Victoria and NSW was an impediment to the operation of the trade. The Victorian and South Australian colonial governments were favoured by the river transport route and sought to enhance its navigability. South Australia held particular interest, evidenced by subsidisation of river boat entrepreneurs and the personal involvement of the Governors. Where it forms the NSW-Victoria border, the Murray is entirely within NSW but distant from Sydney, so river navigation directed trade away to other colonies. NSW saw that little advantage would accrue by expending scarce resources on river improvements. The research reveals how the development of the river trade was hindered by inter-colonial jealousies and self-interest. The flow of the river was uncontrollable until the later development of dams and locks, and its variable flow made navigation problematic. Clearing the stream of fallen timbers, known as 'snagging', required the expenditure of scarce colonial resources. The attitude of colonial governments to river clearing depended on how they calculated the cost/benefit ratio impacting their colony. South Australia was initially the greatest beneficiary of river clearing, but when Echuca was connected to Melbourne by rail, Victoria had much to gain. NSW had other rivers to consider and expenditure on railways stretched available funds. Risk taking entrepreneurs, with confidence in their ability to mobilise capital and operate an industry profitably, were therefore central to the utilisation of the Murray for trade, transport, and communication. Francis Cadell and William Randell were rival entrepreneurs in the steam trade who initiated Murray River navigation and eventually extended services to the Upper Murray. Francis Cadell arrived in South Australia from Scotland in January 1849 with considerable maritime experience and expertise, his family having interests in both coal mines and shipping. Cadell sought favour and lobbied colonial governments to provide funding for river clearing, which benefitted his business interests through payment for work done, and reduction in damage to vessels. This clearing work benefitted the steamer trade but caused long term ecological damage. Although river steamers were financed by private investors, work such as snagging and wharf construction required public funds, which were not always forthcoming. Most of the length of the river requiring clearing was in NSW, the colony with the least to gain by altering the river. Unlike the developing public railway systems, private entrepreneurs provided the river transport facility at little cost to public funds.

The first rail link to the Murray at Echuca, which provided a connection to the Port of Melbourne, stimulated the river trade to the Upper Murray. The extension of the Victorian rail system a decade later to Wodonga, and eventually to Wahgunyah, instigated the decline of the Upper Murray steamer trade to Albury. However, the Victorian import duty on wheat from the Albury and Riverina districts prolonged the life of intra-colonial trade along the Murray, between NSW ports. The lack of a rail outlet for timber supplies from Barmah meant a viable river trade persisted between the forest resource and the Port of Echuca well into the 20th Century, after much of the upper river trade had ended.

The new cultural landscapes established by settlers prior to the establishment of the colonial boundaries were significantly impacted by the subsequent borders, which were regarded as impediments to the lives of the settler communities. This research recognises the resentment and alienation engendered in the riverine communities. The thesis details the biophysical conditions that were influential in determining the types of economic activities possible for these river communities. Conditions favoured pastoralism that required large areas of land. Circumstances in Britain encouraged the wool industry as a viable export commodity, within the limitations posed by the physical environment. Local vested interests, including graziers seeking to facilitate the movement of their product to market, therefore lobbied their respective governments for the development of port facilities, to attract the river trade. The wool industry was critical to the development of the Upper Murray River for international, inter and intra-colonial transport, as part of an intercontinental trading system, but the facility of the trade was utilised for other exports and imports. The river served as a transport conduit not only for international trade but, in conjunction with the rail link via Echuca, for inter and intra-colonial movements of goods and people. The operation of the river steamers was influenced significantly, however, by the unpredictable stream flow and by the nature of the stream itself.

When the river barrier along the Murray was imposed in 1851, the decision retained the Riverina within the political jurisdiction of NSW. But until the rail system connected it to Sydney, the district was within the economic orbit of Melbourne. Local movements for the creation of new colonies by secession, or annexation by Victoria, were the result. Distance from Sydney and economic dependence on Victoria were forces driving these movements, but potential loss of political power by land and electoral reform acts also influenced the opinions of powerful squatter pastoralists. Moves in Riverina communities for annexation by Victoria diminished when it became apparent that no political advantage would be gained. The border regions saw Federation as a way out of their dilemma. The promise of removing the river customs barriers encouraged the idea of Federation. When the time came to vote, the YES majority in favour of Federation was strong in areas that suffered the vicissitudes of tariffs imposed on them by far away governments.

Most residents of NSW and Victoria, living in the coastal capitals or far from the river border, never had occasion to cross the Murray. Populations of the border regions frequently did so. This research indicates just how important effective bridges were to local communities. The narrow and shallow stream offered numerous fording opportunities but, just as the variable nature of the stream flow had to be factored into the operation of the steamers, the river often flooded, making crossing difficult or impossible. Private punts and ferries provided short term solutions, but bridges were needed for the barrier to be permanently and safely overcome. As common use facilities, privately constructed and managed bridges required payment of tolls. Public funds were required if constructed by government. Any river crossing by bridge involved two colonies and required a level of cooperation between the parties to fund, design, and operate the structures. Local communities were vocal in their demands for such facilities and construction only eventuated after these were made. Border communities felt they were ignored by the distant legislatures and did not receive their fair share of infrastructure spending. Bridges became symbols of restriction when controlling movement between the colonies, but hosted celebrations when duties were removed and when Federation was achieved. Most accounts of Federation celebrations focus on the events in Sydney, but this research concentrates on the reactions of the border residents, revealing their delight at the expected removal of unnecessary restrictions on their everyday lives and livelihoods.

European riverine communities were ambivalent about Chinese movements in the nineteenth century, having an economic need of their labour and produce but at the same time expressing a significant Sinophobia. This research contends that in the Upper Murray, much injustice was also caused by prejudicial Government policies and focusses on the impacts of colonial policies on the movement of Chinese people between the colonies. The river barrier acted as a quasi-international border utilised by colonial governments to control movement of Chinese people into the hinterlands. Whether the inland barrier provided any effective control of immigration onto the Australian continent is doubtful, but it did cause considerable disruption to the economic and cultural lives of Chinese residents. Attempts to limit immigration by taxing the import of opium had the undesired effect of encouraging cross-border smuggling. The river border and the imposition of entry taxes on border residents of Chinese descent also made much normal trade and intercourse illegal.

The river border's role as a customs barrier ended with Federation in 1901. Trade between the states became ‘absolutely free’ with responsibility for customs vested in the new Commonwealth. Similarly, immigration became a responsibility of the new Commonwealth Parliament and there was no barrier to movement within the country in normal times. Post Federation, the interstate borders are clearly marked at crossing places but normally cause no impediment to the crossing of people or goods. As occurred when pleuro-pneumonia threatened the livestock industry in 1861–62, the border has been used in emergency conditions to control the spread of contagious diseases in humans and agricultural products.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Upper Murray River took on its dual functions as a barrier and conduit because the surrounding areas were part of the British colonial system, operating in an area with distinctive bio-physical and cultural conditions. The dual functions were in turn responsible for altering the natural and human landscapes. After Federation, responsibility for immigration was vested in the Commonwealth and within a year the new parliament had passed the ‘Immigration Restriction Act 1901’. Based on the existing laws of the colonies its aim was to limit non-white (particularly Asian) immigration to Australia. It was not repealed until 1959. The last traces of the ‘White Australia Policy’ existed until the ‘Racial Discrimination Act’ of 1975 made it illegal to discriminate against migrants on the basis of race.

The valuable but scarce resource of the Murray River waters is still the subject of ongoing agreement and disagreement between the three riparian states and the Commonwealth, who hold competing claims on the limited supply. Water use in the Upper Murray has been largely for irrigation of semi-arid farmlands but there is emerging demand on the provision of water for environmental protection. Unlike its wild state during the era of the Upper Murray paddle steamers, the river is now a controlled stream with its flow dictated by irrigation needs. Low level bridges and a diversion weir at Mulwala/Yarrawonga inhibit the movement of all but small vessels. The river steamer trade served a purpose until its need was obviated by public expenditure on wide reaching rail and road networks.

The river as a barrier re-emerged for a short period in 1919 as a quarantine measure to combat the Spanish Influenza. Again in 2020/21 during the COVID 19 pandemic, movement between the states was controlled at the river border. Minor anomalies exist in cross border legislation but generally people and goods travel freely between the states. The Upper Murray is no longer a viable transport artery as rail and road transport provide much more reliable and efficient solutions to the transport dilemma. The Riverina and Upper Murray regions are still far from Sydney and Melbourne, but effective communications and transport mitigate the tyranny of distance.

In the absence of developed land transport systems, rivers became avenues for the exploitation of hinterland regions. This research has shown how settlers like Hawdon, who equated change with progress, developed business at the expense of the river and its riparian zones. But the same environment also limited these economic pursuits and forced the (slow) comprehension of damage caused by short term exploitation. David Spurr hoped that this research, which reveals for the first time how the Upper Murray River developed to function as both conduit and barrier to trade, transport and diplomacy, also contributes to this growing comprehension. It was written with love for that friendly river.