Cameron Corner (Australia)

Cameron Corner is located about 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) west-southwest of Brisbane, Queensland and is the point in the outback of eastern Australia where the boundary lines of the states of Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales meet (the area immediately to the north and east of the intersection of the state boundaries). The noted Dingo Fence passes through Cameron Corner along the New South Wales border.

AUS map with named state corners

This general area, which includes Sturt Stony Desert in the Lake Eyre Basin, was first explored by Captain Charles Sturt, who in 1844 went in search of a supposed inland sea in the centre of Australia.

The corner and locality are named for the surveyor, John Brewer Cameron, from the New South Wales Lands Department, who spent two years during 1880–1882 marking the border between New South Wales and Queensland.[2] Cameron erected a post there in September 1880 to mark its intersection with the border of South Australia. He placed a wooden marker every 1 mile (1.6 km) eastwards along the interstate boundary.

In the 2016 census, Cameron Corner had a population of 5 people.[1]

On 17 April 2020 the Queensland Government reorganised the nine localities in the Shire of Bulloo, resulting in six localities. It included Cameron Corner gaining a small portion of land from the west of the locality of Bulloo Downs.[3][4][5] It increased the area of the locality from 12,866.0 square kilometres (4,967.6 sq mi) to 14,554.8 square kilometres (5,619.6 sq mi).[6]

Cameron Corner Marker: Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia

Cameron Corner Survey Marker which marks the corner is a heritage-listed site, being listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 2012.[7]

Dingo Fence on the 29th parallel of latitude. Sturt National Park (right of fence) – looking east from Cameron Corner after a heavy rainfall

The 2,500 km (1,553 mi) section of the Dingo Fence in Queensland is also known as the Great Barrier Fence or Wild Dog Barrier Fence 11. It is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. The Wild Dog Barrier Fence staff consists of 23 employees, including two-person teams that patrol a 300 km (186 mi) section of the fence once every week. There are depots at Quilpie and Roma.[8]

The Queensland Border Fence stretches for 394 km (245 mi) westwards along the border with New South Wales, into the Strzelecki Desert. The fence passes the point where the three states of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet (Cameron Corner). At this point, it connects with the South Australian Border Fence, which runs for 257 km (160 mi) southwards along the border with New South Wales.[9] It then joins a section known as the Dog Fence in South Australia, which is 2,225 km (1,383 mi) long.[10]

Cameron Corner in the intersection of Australian time zones during daylight-saving

New Year's Eve is celebrated three times each year in Cameron Corner (also in Poeppel Corner and Surveyor Generals Corner), because the three states that meet at the corner are in three time zones.

The Cameron Corner Store was established in 1990 by a Vietnam War veteran, Sandy Nall, and his wife Cathrine.[11] As of 2014, the store was operated by the sole permanent residents of Cameron Corner, Fenn and Cheryl Miller.[11] The store reportedly has a Queensland liquor licence, a New South Wales postal code and a South Australian telephone number.[12]

The locality also features a desert golf course.[13]

Media related to Cameron Corner, Australia at Wikimedia Commons