The whole area north of the
Murchison River was designated the North District by land regulations gazetted in 1862 by the government of the
Colony of Western Australia. From February 1865, the North District was officially administered by a
Government Resident,
Robert John Sholl, initially based in
Camden Harbour, then moved to
Roebourne in November 1865. (Western Australia/Northern Territory). The
North-West Land Division, created by legislation in 1887, includes only the western
Pilbara, northern
Gascoyne and part of the
Mid West, but not the
Kimberley, thereby excluding many areas usually encompassed by popular definitions. Western Australian law,
state government policy and popular culture sometimes creates exceptions for the area "north of the
26th parallel" (latitude 26° south). For instance, a Western Australian Government Tourist Bureau publication,
The North West of Western Australia (1963), both uses the 26th parallel as a boundary and delineates smaller regions: the Gascoyne, the "
De Grey and
Fortescue", the Kimberley and the "Dry Interior". Two legislated
regions of Western Australia, the Pilbara and Kimberley, may be considered to comprise an alternate, popular definition. The Gascoyne is often added to these, although it may also be considered as comprising a part of the "Greater Mid West". During the 1960s, a pamphlet published by the State Government stated: "The region is bounded in the west by the Indian Ocean, in the east by the Central Division, in the north-east by the Pilbara, and in the south by the Northern Agricultural Division. It covers and area of and has a population of about 10,000." It has frequently been proposed that the region, alone or amalgamated with the
Northern Territory, should form a new Australian state. The most recent proponent of such a scheme was Federal MP
Bob Katter, who suggested that such a state should be called "North Western Australia". ==Western Australian north west frontier==