Argadargada Station
| Company type | Pastoral lease |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cattle station |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Damian Miller, Milton Willick |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Northern Territory |
| Products | Cattle (Charbray, Charolais, Bos Indicus) |
| Parent | Georgina Pastoral Company |
Argadargada Station operates as a cattle station under a pastoral lease arrangement in Australia's Northern Territory.
Location
Situated roughly south of Alpurrurulam and northeast of Alice Springs, this property shares boundaries with Annitowa and Ooratippra to its west; Lucy Creek and Manners Creek Station lie to the south; to the east are Lake Nash and Georgina Downs; while the Atnetye Aboriginal Land Trust borders the southern perimeter. The Sandover Highway runs directly through the middle of the station.
Description
Spanning an area of , Argadargada consists mainly of open plains dominated by grasses such as Mitchell grass, buffel, and Flinders grass. The southern region features rolling hills and break-away terrain. Vegetation present includes mulga, bloodwood, gidyea, coolabah, ghost gum, and soft spinifex. The station is traversed by the Sandover River, which creates flood-out zones within the property. Around 2010, the station supported a herd of approximately 6,000 cattle, primarily composed of Charbray, Charolais, and Bos Indicus breeds.
History
The land traditionally belongs to the Yaroinga people, whose territory extends across sections of both the Northern Territory and Queensland, encompassing the western boundary of Argadargada.
In 1918, bores were sunk near the Argadargada waterhole. The station's establishment occurred in 1951 when Damian Miller and Milton Willick founded it. They encountered difficulties such as losing 1,300 cattle due to gidgee poisoning during 1953–54. Management was taken over by Calder in 1954 before the original owners sold the property a decade later in 1964. Initially occupying , construction of the homestead commenced around 1952; Milton and Phyllis Willick initially resided in tents awaiting delivery of building supplies.
By 1998, under lessee Dick Rogers, Argadargada expanded to cover , with the land divided into 35 surveyed paddocks.
The Broad family acquired the station in 2003 for AUD 3 million. Subsequently, in 2010 Peter Hughes from Georgina Pastoral Company purchased it for AUD 5 million; this company also possesses nearby Lake Nash Station. Since 2017, management responsibilities for Argadargada have been handled by the Rushton family on behalf of Georgina Pastoral Company.