n his seminal novel , Nevil Shute’s portrayal of Australia as a honeyed continent of opportunity helped fuel the post-war influx of “ten-pound Poms” taking up the federal government’s offer of assisted migration. A trickle came to Alice Springs, described in the novel as a “bonza place” in the shadows of central Australia’s rust-red West MacDonnell Ranges, 1700 miles (2750km) by road from Sydney.
