Australian
Screen

an NFSA website



A Big Country – The Prices (1979)

Synopsis

A pioneering family has taken over a cattle station at Cape York and is trying to make a go of it.

Curator’s notes

What we’re witnessing in this documentary is a way of life that existed in Australia from the earliest pioneering times when white men fenced a spread to raise cattle.

In modern times, as this sort of cattle station has become big business, the days of the family spread are probably over. For that reason, this story is an important archival document.

I would love to have a follow up or longitudinal study of this family, to see how things worked out over the following decade or so.