The three-month-long Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive has a cast of thousands.
Story + Photos Mandy McKeesick
Under a brilliant Milky Way on the stock route south of Blackall in central Queensland, a campfire is ringed by a dozen people. Beers are clinked over the flames and mouth-watering smells emanate from camp ovens. Horse-bells tink in the near distance and a mob of cattle settles behind an electric fence. Lit by shifting firelight, grazier Bim Struss holds court.
“This cattle drive is a BeefBank initiative to raise awareness about food insecurity in Queensland and across our nation, and to raise funds to support those in need,” Bim says to his audience. “It is an opportunity to showcase our beef industry and for the same industry to give back to those less fortunate than us.”
This is the Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive (GACCD), of which Bim is chairman. It’s a 775km trek from Longreach to Roma over 87 days, during which paying guests, sponsored cattle and headline acts such as Tania Kernaghan and The CrackUp Sisters, contribute funds to the cause.
This story excerpt is from issue #163
Outback Magazine: Oct/Nov 2025
