On This Road

In 1980, on a remote cattle station in the Kimberley, a dispute began over land, law, and who had the right to decide. The Yungngora people opposed oil exploration on their country, leading to a long and public standoff that drew national attention. What happened there became part of a turning point in how land, culture, and authority were understood in Australia. Explore all episodes on the map —...

Before the railway pushed north through the centre of Australia, Beltana was one of the most important towns in South Australia’s far north. In the late 1800s Afghan cameleers passed through here with camel trains carrying supplies deep into the interior. When the railway arrived, the train itself became known as The Ghan , remembering those early drivers of the desert. For a time Beltana was a bu...

In the 1860s, Surveyor-General George Goyder rode across South Australia studying drought, soil, and rainfall. When he returned, he drew a simple line across the map. South of the line, farming would usually succeed. North of it, the country was better suited to grazing. More than 150 years later, Goyder’s Line still marks the boundary between reliable farming country and the dry pastoral land bey...

Out on Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory, a group of Gurindji stockmen once walked away from their work. They walked off the station, but they didn’t walk away from the land. Led by Vincent Lingiari, their stand began in 1966 as a protest over wages, but it grew into something much larger — a long and patient claim for land and recognition. Many Australians later came to know the story t...

On a quiet night in January 1975, a bulk carrier struck the Tasman Bridge in Hobart. In seconds, a section of the bridge collapsed into the Derwent River. Cars plunged into the dark. A ship lay broken across the channel. The city was suddenly cut in two. This is the story of what happened — and what followed. Not a technical investigation, but a human one:the people driving home,the first rescuers...