4.2 Change in Gulargambone – Causes & Impacts

1. Drought affects rural communities in many ways. It causes economic hardship for the agricultural population, which has an effect on businesses, jobs and the local economy of the area. Downfalls in the rural economy also have social ramifications including a loss of morale and increased welfare dependency.

2. One of the major consequences of the soldier settler blocks being sold was that the neighbouring farms bought them making an increase in farm land, and a decrease in farms.

3. The three main factors which have caused a decline in agriculture are:

·         The selling of the soldier settler blocks reducing the amount of farms

·         The collapse of the wool industry

·         The rising costs in agriculture

4. Mechanisation has contributed to unemployment due to the takeover of machines. The machines that have replaced workers skyrocketed the unemployment record in Gulargambone.

5. Small country towns like Gulargambone have started to decline due to lifestyle factors as well as better roads and transport. Today, many people do not want to live in small communities as they do not have the same levels of access to services, facilities and entertainment. The upgraded transport have allowed people from country towns to access larger centres nearby.

6. There are many reasons to suggest why Gulargambone has been subject to rural decline. The rising cost of agriculture in the last 20 years has resulted in lacked financial support for the town. The invention of machines and technology for farms has made a decline in jobs and boosted the unemployment record. In the last 10 years, Gulargambone has been under serious drought conditions making life hard socially, economically and physically.

8. The population of Gulargambone has risen and decreased over the last 50 years. In the 50’s, the population was 900 due to the baby boom as well as the under developed cities making more people live in the rural areas. From the 70’s onwards, the population decreased due to the fall of the baby boom as well as the development of major cities improving jobs and entertainment.

9. The population pyramid for the town of Gulargambone is a very unusual shape. There are more females from 74+ purely because woman live longer than men. For men and woman, the elderly population of 50+ is quite high as Australia is an aging nation from the baby boom of the 1950’s.

10. a.) In the 50’s, the population boomed and gradually declined over the years.

b.) The enrollments of the Gulargambone Central School have had major trends over the past 50 years. When Gulargambone was at its social, demographic and financial peek during the 60’s, the enrollments sky rocketed to over 300. With the agricultural, drought employment difficulties, of the 70’s onwards, the population plummeted as the living standards and economical standards plummeted.

11. Social: Transport and roads as well as life expectations.

Economical: Decline in agriculture

Environmental: The Drought