Less attention is paid to the social and economic conditions.
Recent surveys, however, show that the north has levels of remoteness and socio-economic disadvantage that are much higher than in agricultural areas in the south. Also, regions within northern Australia are developing at a different pace and in different ways. Mark Stafford-Smith gives a synopsis of some of these issues. There is an immense amount of work ahead of us to create a better understanding of how biophysical characteristics interact with the social, cultural and economic factors. Land uses The main land uses in the region are grazing, defence, conservation, tourism, intensive agriculture and horticulture, lifestyle habitation and Aboriginal homelands, and mining.