Beveridge Island (Victoria)

Beveridge Island is an island in Victoria, Australia, within the locality of Tyntynder in the Rural City of Swan Hill.

Beveridge Island Victoria
Beveridge Island
Coordinates	35°13′S 143°34′E
LGA(s)	Rural City of Swan Hill
Lands administrative divisions around Beveridge Island: Speewa, New South Wales Speewa, Victoria Beveridge Island Tyntynder

It is enclosed by the Murray River, and an anabranch of the river in the south and has an area of approximately 1116 hectares.

There are no road crossings to the island.

Boundary dispute

In 1873, the year after the Privy Council determined that Pental Island was part of Victoria, New South Wales and Victoria agreed that Beveridge Island was also Victorian territory. This agreement was based on the conclusion of the states' respective Surveyors General that the northern branch of the Murray River was the main channel.[1] In 1982, William Hazlett, a farmer[2] who had been charged in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria with illegally taking water from the southern stream of the Murray River to irrigate Beveridge Island, unsuccessfully challenged this agreement in the High Court, arguing that the southern branch was the main one and the island was therefore in New South Wales. The High Court dismissed his appeal, confirming that the island was part of Victoria.[3]

See also

• Pental Island

References

1. Carney, Gerard (10 April 2013). "The Story behind the Land Borders of the Australian States – A Legal and Historical Overview" (PDF). p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
2. "Murray island is part of Victoria, High Court rules". The Age. 23 October 1982.
3. Hazlett v Presnell [1982] HCA 58; (1982) 149 CLR 107.