"No moneyed men had time or inclination to equip an expedition to work a gold reef in far-away Centralia."

Ion Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride. 2.

An historic and geographic place name, favoured by Ion Idriess when referring to the far interior of Australia, the word appears frequently in Lasseter's Last Ride where it can refer to either the newly created and clearly defined territory of Central Australia, or informally, to that vast area south of Tennant Creek and north of Oodnadatta, and between the borders of Queensland and Western Australia. Some generous interpretations include all of the central mountain ranges from the Tarltons in the east to the Rawlinson and occasionally the Warburton Ranges in the west. The western parts of Centralia include Lasseter Country, and by whatever definition or interpretation, the capital of Centralia is always Alice Springs.

Although Idriess made the word popular, it is not specific to Australia,there are more than a dozen locales in America and Canada named Centralia, some well established before it was confirmed that central Australia was firm ground and not an inland sea, steam ships and steam trains were so named, in January 1876, engine No. 49, the Centralia, from the Easton and Amboy Railroad exploded, killing eight and injuring more than 30 others.

There were many Australian claims to the name before the citizens of the 'Centre made it their own, in November 1874 'Steel Pen' writing to the South Australian Register, took issue with the undistinguished name of his State, easily interpreted as anywhere in southern Australia, apparently his mail from the Old Country had travelled a circuitous route via Melbourne and on occasion, still further south through Hobart, he suggested Centralia might clearly identify the Colony. In 1888, the Town and Country Journal supported a separate colony movement with Broken Hill as its Capital, the new colony would be named West Riverina or Centralia, the separatists were nothing more or less than a political 'ginger group' mildly peeved that their mining royalties to the New South Wales Treasury had not received due recognition from Sydney. For thirty years or more the citizens of central Queensland agitated for a separate colony to be named Centralia with Rockhampton the capital, one patriot named his locally manufactured bicycle the Centralia, it was said to be a sturdy machine.                    

The issue of claiming the name was more or less settled in 1927 when the Territory of Central Australia was proclaimed, although the new Territory lasted less than five years the convenient and apt contraction of the formal name remained, now widely used in business and advertising, yet as of December, 2013, there is no place in Australia officially named Centralia. As for the statement by Idriess, attributed to Lasseter, that moneyed men were not interested in his "gold reef in far-away Centralia", is a nonsense, 14 miles of gold reef at 3 ounces to the ton would have the bonanza crawling with diggers within weeks, the dire shortage of water and supplies notwithstanding, and there would be a safe well beaten road  from Laverton within the year.

LASSETERIA

© R.Ross. 1999-2006