Word: burtons
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...rule, Time South Pacific reports on the region's most influential people. Here, our focus is on Australians who live away from the big cities and reveal other facets of the nation's character. Tom Dusevic met Peter Burton, who turns grass into T-bones in the Kimberley; Elizabeth Keenan visited the kitchen of Warrant Officer John Benstead, 22 years an Army cook and now based in Townsville; Michael Fitzgerald tracked down Doug Pekin, a dogger who maintains 500 km of dingo-proof fence on the Nullarbor; Daniel Williams joined hands at a Sunday service with the dwindling faithful...
...sheep and wheat man whose home is near Geraldton, 2,500 km to the south and west, Peter Burton, 63, has grown very fond of the Kimberley. "If you live here and die here you have to go somewhere else," says the wiry farmer, rolling a cigarette. "Because you've already been to Heaven." Some district cattlemen consider him a blow-in, but Burton is finding this stage of his life busier than he expected. "Supposedly ret-ired," he says, with mischief in his eyes. "I was happy catching crayfish and sinking piss." But now he's living at Springvale...
...Today, visitors to the property are greeted by the Burton name flanked by a shamrock. A small helicopter (all stock mustering is now done with choppers) is parked not far from the old house. In a nearby paddock, a dozen fit horses graze; breathy plumes escape from nostrils in the cool early-morning air. Burton points out a rust-colored old shack. Surprisingly sturdy, it was built by Aboriginal workers out of anthills and spinifex. "This is where they'd sleep when they weren't camping out," says Burton. Those stockmen may have been flint hard, he says, but they...
...Like many cockies, Burton is a mix of strong opinions and grit. Yet there's a sense that he has softened, perhaps even been humbled. Farmers are often derided by environmentalists and animal-rights activ-ists for not respecting the land and ill-treating their stock. "We were bastards before. Now we've changed," says Burton, pointing out several improved farming practices. "Let's work together and look after the land. But give us a break. I say, Sort out the cities first. You people could become another Indonesia." There's a Big Australia ethos behind his thinking. Burton believes...
...Burton is full of praise for young Jack's enterprise and outlook. "You have to try different styles of management and new methods," he says. "There's better stock control, feed and water management. You just need to utilize the res-ources that good old J.C. put there. We're looking for more production all the time." The Burtons cautiously employ the ideas of nutritionists and agro-nomists. "You can't go in with a theory and spend a squillion. First run a trial." It's the tough times when fortunes are made; the family has taken risks, been lucky...