In Victoria, about 13.9 million acres were set aside for selection (Note 91), almost a quarter of the land area of the colony. Whilst this seems a lot, some 31.4 million acres of Victoria's 56.2 million were held by squatters as licensed runs (Note 92). This was an area almost as large as England (Note 93). At worst, less than one third of land held by squatters was in danger.

In South Australia, the 1847 Order-in-Council did not apply, so the call to unlock the land was not as great as in the eastern colonies (Note 94). Selection was restricted to blocks of 40 to 640 acres in "agricultural areas" declared by the Governor (Note 95). The first declared areas under The Strangeways Act 1869 (SA) were of poor quality land, but in 1871 the government responded to pressure and opened to selection more and better wheat growing areas (Note 96). Generally "agricultural areas" seem to have been limited to land south of Goyder's rainfall line (Note 97).

Similar limitations were urged on Robertson in NSW, but rejected. This could be seen as an insistence on providing equality of opportunity, but we must not overlook the fact that survey may have been a prerequisite. Given the supposed lack of surveyors, free selection could have been delayed for many years.

Unlike Victoria and South Australia, NSW and Queensland did not have a fixed number of Members in the Upper House of Parliament, elected on franchise qualifications (Note 98). Obstruction in the Upper House could be overcome by having a compliant Governor nominate Members sympathetic to the goals of the majority in the Lower House.

These political differences, and corresponding limitations on areas available for selection, appear more important when considered in the light of how selection worked, and its potential for greater effect the drier and poorer the land became the further inland one goes. Both farmer and grazier needed water to survive. In good rainfall areas, with plenty of water to go around, small selections would have done much less harm to squatters than small selections around key waterholes in the dry outback. While some squatters would have been driven by greed to hang on to all they had (Note 99), for those in the dry areas it was less a question of sharing and more one of success or complete failure.

WHEN WAS THE LAND AVAILABLE ?

Free selection was not imposed on the squatters overnight. The call to unlock the land had been building during the 1850s, and the squatters had been put on notice in NSW that it was going to be a reality, when from 1858 leases were issued subject to a right of resumption by the Crown before expiry. Robertson's land Acts did not take effect until the beginning of 1862, and did not override the legal rights attached to leases prior to February 1858 (Note 100). Pre-1858 leases were not available until the lease expired, which for an 1857 lease in the Unsettled District would be in 1871. Whether a run was held under lease or licence was therefore critical to the date on which the run became available for free selection.

The squatters clearly had plenty of time to obtain control over most of their runs by peacocking using the pre-emptive rights conferred by the 1847 Order-in-Council. The relatively small amount of land purchased between 1847 and 1861 (Note 101) indicates that not all squatters took advantage of this time, and explains why they had to resort to dummying and peacocking on a large scale after 1861.

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