Surveyor Generals Corner

Australia map with named state corners
Surveyor Barry Allwright, who originally surveyed the corner in 1968, returned to Surveyor-Generals Corner in June 2018 to replace the plaque.
A group of surveyors at Surveyor-Generals Corner in June 2018
Surveyor Generals Corner at the intersection of Australian time zones during daylight saving time

Surveyor Generals Corner (or Surveyor-Generals Corner) is the point where the Australian state boundaries of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory meet.[1][2]

These boundaries meet at the easternmost point of the approximately 127-metre-long (417 ft) section of the Western Australian border with the Northern Territory border which runs east–west along the 26th parallel south latitude to meet the western boundary of the South Australian border.[1]

History

In 1922 an agreement was signed between the prime minister Billy Hughes, the acting premier for South Australia, John George Bice,[3] and the premier of Western Australia, James Mitchell to set the border along the 129th meridian east longitude and defined the boundary by lines drawn north and south through the centre of the Deakin Obelisk, erected in 1926 near Deakin, Western Australia and the Kimberley Obelisk, erected in 1927, near Argyle Downs, in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.[1] In 1963, when the survey on the ground was continued, it was realised that there was no possibility of these lines meeting exactly at the 26th parallel south.[1]

In June 1968 two monuments were erected at the junction of the boundaries approximately 127 metres (417 ft) apart running east–west along the 26th parallel south. The most easterly monument common to all three jurisdictions was named Surveyor Generals Corner at the suggestion of the Director of National Mapping.[4] The site is not named after a single Surveyor-General, because there were a number of them present as follows.[1]

On 4th June 1968, two concrete pillars were completed to mark Surveyor-Generals Corner in the presence V.T. O'Brien, Acting Director of Lands, N.T., P.J. Wells, Acting Surveyor-General, N.T.; H.A. Bailey, Surveyor-General, S.A.; Harold Camm, Surveyor-General, W.A.; and B.M. Allwright, Surveyor, N.T.

Access

From 7 March 2003, access to the area was restricted following a decision by the Irrunytju (Wingellina) Community in whose traditional land the Surveyor Generals Corner is situated. Access to the area is limited to guided tours and visitors require a special permit in addition to the standard Great Central Road transit permit.[5]

The nearest settlement is the Aboriginal community of Kalka in South Australia, situated on the Gunbarrel Highway just a few kilometres to the south.

There are three occurrences of New Year's Eve at Surveyor Generals Corner (also in Cameron Corner and Poeppel Corner), because it is located at the intersection of three time zones.

Corners in Australia
Name Surveyor Generals Poeppel Haddon Cameron MacCabe
States WA/NT/SA NT/SA/Qld SA/Qld SA/Qld/NSW SA/Vic/NSW

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Porter, John R. (31 March – 6 April 1990). Longitude 129 degrees east, and why it is not the longest, straight line in the world (PDF). 32nd Australian Surveyors Congress. Canberra: Institution of Surveyors Australia. pp. 18–24. OCLC 220695231. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  2. ^ Australia Road and 4WD Atlas (Map). Eight Mile Plains Queensland: Hema Maps. 2007. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-86500-456-3.
  3. ^ McGill, Maryanne (1979). "Bice, Sir John George (1853–1923)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Publishing. ISBN 0-522-84236-4. ISSN 1833-7538. LCCN 66013723. OCLC 70677943. OL 5984223M. Wikidata Q672680. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Border Lengths - States and Territories: Western Australia - South Australia - Northern Territory border". Geoscience Australia, Government of Australia. 2021. A glance at most maps of Australia will tell you something that isn't quite true. The border which runs along the eastern edge of Western Australia is not actually one continuous straight line. [...] The [1922] agreement set out the border as being a line determined by the 129th meridian east longitude. However, the agreement required that the boundary be defined by lines running north and south [...] and in June 1968 two monuments approximately 127 metres apart were erected at the junction of the boundaries.
  5. ^ "Surveyor-Generals Corner". Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku. 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2024.

25°59′55″S 129°00′06″E / 25.9986°S 129.0018°E / -25.9986; 129.0018