View source for Surveyor Generals Corner

{{Short description|Point in Australia where state boundaries meet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2012}}
[[File:AUS locator map with corners full.svg|thumb|Australia map with named state corners]]
[[File:Barry Allwright at Surveyor-Generals Corner.jpg|thumb|Surveyor Barry Allwright, who originally surveyed the corner in 1968, returned to Surveyor-Generals Corner in June 2018 to replace the plaque.]]
[[File:Surveyors at Surveyor-Generals Corner.jpg|thumb|A group of surveyors at Surveyor-Generals Corner in June 2018]]
'''Surveyor Generals Corner''' (or Surveyor-Generals Corner) is the point where the Australian state boundaries of [[South Australia]], [[Western Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]] meet.<ref name="Porter">{{cite conference |title=Longitude 129 degrees east, and why it is not the longest, straight line in the world |last=Porter |first=John R. |date=31 March – 6 April 1990 |conference=32nd Australian Surveyors Congress |publisher=Institution of Surveyors Australia |location=Canberra |pages=18–24 |url=https://www.xnatmap.org/adnm/docs/1genmap/sgcnr/1porter.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109181904/https://www.xnatmap.org/adnm/docs/1genmap/sgcnr/1porter.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-09 |access-date=2022-09-15 |oclc=220695231 }}</ref><ref>{{cite map |title=Australia Road and 4WD Atlas |year=2007 |publisher=Hema Maps |location=Eight Mile Plains Queensland |isbn=978-1-86500-456-3 |pages=74}}</ref>

These boundaries meet at the easternmost point of the approximately {{convert|127|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} section of the [[Western Australia border|Western Australian border]] with the [[Northern Territory borders|Northern Territory border]] which runs east–west along the [[26th parallel south]] [[latitude]] to meet the western boundary of the [[South Australian borders|South Australian border]].<ref name="Porter" />

==History==
In 1922 an agreement was signed between the prime minister [[Billy Hughes]], the acting premier for South Australia, [[John George Bice]],<ref>{{cite Q |Q672680 |first=Maryanne |last=McGill |chapter=Bice, Sir John George (1853–1923) |publication-date=1979 |chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bice-sir-john-george-5229/text8801 |access-date=2024-07-14 |mode=cs1}}</ref> and the premier of Western Australia, [[James Mitchell (Australian politician)|James Mitchell]] to set the border along the [[129th meridian east]] [[longitude]] and defined the boundary by lines drawn north and south through the centre of the Deakin Obelisk, erected in 1926 near [[Deakin, Western Australia]] and the Kimberley Obelisk, erected in 1927, near [[Argyle Downs]], in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley Region of Western Australia]].<ref name="Porter" /> In 1963, when the [[Surveying|survey]] on the ground was continued, it was realised that there was no possibility of these lines meeting exactly at the 26th parallel south.<ref name="Porter" />

In June 1968 two monuments were erected at the junction of the boundaries approximately {{convert|127|m}} apart running east–west along the 26th parallel south. The most easterly monument common to all three jurisdictions was named ''Surveyor Generals Corner'' at the suggestion of the Director of National Mapping.<ref name="gsa21">{{cite web |url=https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/border-lengths#heading-5 |title=Border Lengths - States and Territories: Western Australia - South Australia - Northern Territory border |publisher=Geoscience Australia, Government of Australia |year=2021 |quote=A glance at most maps of Australia will tell you something that isn't quite true. The border which runs along the eastern edge of Western Australia is not actually one continuous straight line. [...] The [1922] agreement set out the border as being a line determined by the 129th meridian east longitude. However, the agreement required that the boundary be defined by lines running north and south [...] and in June 1968 two monuments approximately 127 metres apart were erected at the junction of the boundaries. }}</ref> The site is not named after a single Surveyor-General, because there were a number of them present as follows.<ref name="Porter" />
{{blockquote |text=On 4th June 1968, two concrete pillars were completed to mark Surveyor-Generals Corner in the presence V.T. O'Brien, Acting Director of Lands, N.T., P.J. Wells, Acting Surveyor-General, N.T.; H.A. Bailey, Surveyor-General, S.A.; Harold Camm, Surveyor-General, W.A.; and B.M. Allwright, Surveyor, N.T.}}

==Access==
From 7 March 2003, access to the area was restricted following a decision by the [[Irrunytju]] (Wingellina) Community in whose traditional land the Surveyor Generals Corner is situated.  Access to the area is limited to guided tours and visitors require a special permit in addition to the standard [[Great Central Road]] transit permit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Surveyor-Generals Corner |year=2021 |website=[[Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku]] |url=http://www.ngaanyatjarraku.wa.gov.au/index.php/tourist-information/places-to-see/surveyor-generals-corner |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207021932/http://www.ngaanyatjarraku.wa.gov.au/index.php/tourist-information/places-to-see/surveyor-generals-corner |archive-date=2022-12-07 |access-date=2024-07-14}}</ref>

The nearest settlement is the Aboriginal community of [[Kalka, South Australia|Kalka]] in South Australia, situated on the [[Gunbarrel Highway]] just a few kilometres to the south.

{{Auscorner}}

==See also==
*[[Border corners of Australia]]
*[[Surveyor General of South Australia]]
*[[Surveyor General of Western Australia]]
*[[Department of Lands and Surveys, Western Australia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web
|title=Border Lengths – States and Territories
|publisher=[[Geoscience Australia]]
|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/border-lengths
|access-date=28 November 2018}}

{{coord |region:AU_type:landmark|format=dms|display=title}}

[[Category:Borders of South Australia]]
[[Category:Borders of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Borders of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Border tripoints]]