Pardoo Station

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Location in Western Australia

Pardoo Station is apastoral lease, formerly asheep station, and now acattle station approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) east ofPort Hedland and 121 kilometres (75 mi) north ofMarble Bar, in thePilbara region ofWestern Australia.20°06′24″S119°34′48″E / 20.10667°S 119.58000°E /-20.10667; 119.58000

The property used to be about 250,000 acres (1,000 km²) in size. It is on the western end of theGreat Sandy Desert where it meets theIndian Ocean at the southern end of theEighty Mile Beach.

Mount Goldsworthy, located on the south western side of the lease, is the site of the firstiron ore mine in thePilbara. ThePardoo iron ore mine is located in the region, and shares the station's name.

The station was sold in late 2014 by the Rogers family to aSingaporean-based investor, Bruce Cheung, forA$13.5 million. Cheung's company, the Pardoo Beef Corporation, appointed Eric Golangco as the general manager. At this time the property was running 5,700 head of cattle^[1] on 1,998 square kilometres (771 sq mi).Centre-pivot irrigation is being used to produce extra hay for stock.^[2]The property also has 60 kilometres (37 mi) of ocean frontage and has a 145-bay caravan park tourist operation.^[1]

Mr S. Anderson was the proprietor of the station in 1892. Heavy rains in April of that year led to heavy stock losses with around 100 cattle, 1,500 sheep and 30 horses being lost in the deluge.^[3] In May of the same year he was thrown from hishorse and sustained severe injuries, which resulted in him being taken toRoebourne for hospitalisation.^[4]

SevenAboriginal Australians were caught killing and stealing sheep from the station in 1893. They were sentenced to four yearshard labour and eighteen lashes with thecat o' nine tails.^[5]

In 1913 the station had an estimated flock of 20,000 sheep, which were to be shorn using the 12 stands in theshearing shed in July of that year.^[6]

The area was flooded following heavy rains in 1929.^[7]

Frank Snellgrove Thompson owned the station from at least 1929^[7] until his death in 1937.^[8] His son, Frank Finlayson Thompson, took over control of the property until at least 1951,^[9] in addition to the familymerino stud propertyNardlah nearBroomehill in theGreat Southern region of the state.

In 1951 a seventy-year-old man, Hans Pederson, fell 30 feet (9.1 m) from awindmill tower. TheRoyal Flying Doctor Service sent a plane fromPort Hedland but it arrived too late and Pederson had died.^[10]

Pardoo was an outcamp ofDe Grey Station but became a separate entity owned by the Thompson family until 1963 when Frank Thompson sold it toLeslie (Les) Schubert. Schubert describes the history of the station in his bookWiping Out the Tracks – The Northern Odyssey.^[11]

In November 1965 Schubert swapped Pardoo along with a cash adjustment of $120,000 forLouisa Downs and Bohemia Downs stations in theKimberley region. Karl Stein took over the station in January 1966.

Sometime before 1977 Karl Stein retired and sold Pardoo to Russel Peake. The Leeds family purchased Pardoo from Peake and then sold the lease for Pardoo to Graeme and Judith Rogers. Pardoo is operating under the Crown Lease numbers CL694-1967 and CL194-1983 and has the associated Land Act numbers LA3114/446 and LA398/718.

The station is estimated to have a size of 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) and in 2012 was stocked with approximately 7,000Santa Gertrudis cattle.^[12]

In 2012 the station lay directly in the path ofCyclone Lua and most staff were evacuated to Port Hedland to wait the storm out. The Anderson family and two station hands remained at the property.^[12] The area was hit by 270-kilometre-per-hour (170 mph) winds and heavy rain, with many trees uprooted; theroadhouse owner, Janet Robb, described the property as looking like "an absolute warzone".^[13]

Pardoo also took the brunt ofCyclone Rusty in February 2013, recording 250 millimetres (10 in) of rain in 24 hours along with strong winds. Stock was killed fromhypothermia and thehomestead was damaged by the category four cyclone.^[14]

Ten years later in April 2023Cyclone Ilsa passed directly over Pardoo as a Category 5 storm, causing over $4 million of damage to the nearby roadhouse, tearing roofs off buildings and overturning road trucks.^[15] Pardoo's new manager Scott Fraser had been there three weeks when Ilsa hit. Pardoo had 20centre-pivot irrigation plants, used to grass feed the mainlyWagyu cattle. These were tied down ahead of the cyclone, but all but one was destroyed. Additionally, many station sheds and other buildings were destroyed. The financial loss was estimated at $25m.^[16]

• Schubert, Leslie A.(1994),Wiping Out the Tracks – The Northern Odyssey: A Family Biography & Social Commentary,OCLC 38341081
• Schubert, Leslie A.(1996),Kimberley Dreams & Realities: An Objective Study of the effects on Part Aboriginals forcibly educated in the Twentieth Century & the Tragedy of the Uneducated Indigenous.ISBN 0-646-30371-6

• Homesteads in Western Australia
• Stations in the Pilbara

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