Over the next 110 years, bushranging outbreaks were frequent. The last bushrangers were the Governor brothers, who were at large in the New England region of New South Wales in 1900. The bushrangers' crimes usually involved cattle theft, highway robbery, and murder. The bushrangers quickly became part of Australian folklore and remain part of it today. The reasons given for bushranging vary.
Some historians argue that social conditions forced men into bushranging.
Others argue that such men would have been criminals under any circumstances. Outbreaks in Western Australia and Queensland were minor. South Australia had no major bushranging activity. There were three distinct periods of bushranging in Australia. The first period began in Van Diemen's Land in about 1810 with the gang of bandits led by John Whitehead.