I stumbled upon a very interesting June 2008 60 minutes story on NT property prices, titled ‘Bonanza’. Liz Hayes does a good job of interviewing Ben and Traci Tapp of Mountain Valley Station, Tony Davis of Limbunya, and Marlee and Franz Ranacher of Bulloo River Station. The story focuses on the rise in cattle station prices and one of the main reasons given is the relative abundance of water. (Poorer soils, distance to markets and high costs of living and running a business counterbalance the abundance of water and relatively reliable rainfall, however these aspects weren’t mentioned; nor was the fact that it’s not realistically possible to make a Territory station produce an annual running profit, when purchased for $50 million upwards – hence the rapid turnover of cattle stations bought for top-drawer prices. In recent years it has only been possible to make a honest profit when big cattle stations bought for high prices are sold for even higher prices and capital gains profits are realised.)
One of the best quotes is from Tony Davis, owner of Limbunya Station: ‘Properties are like people. Some have character, some don’t, some are boring, some are exciting. This is exciting (Limbunya). It’s got beauty. It’s got wild country, it’s got very productive country. It’s got everything. It’s got it all.’ The story does an excellent job of explaining the emotional connection station owners have with their land.
At the time, Limbunya station had just been put on the market by Tony and Pam Davis and Ben and Traci Tapp have since put their Mountain Valley and Maryfield cattle stations up for sale also. Tony and Pam intended to concentrate on their other station, Moroak.
Interestingly an article ran in The Australian newspaper in March 2008 titled ‘Barefoot cattleman walking on gold’ and it’s presumably where 60 Minutes got their idea for their story because it runs along similar lines and involves some of the same people. The 60 minutes story was obviously filmed around the start of the dry season (i.e. between March and June).
Tags: Living in the country and remote areas, Australian cattle stations, Rural properties for sale and ownership, Image of the bush