Len ‘Squatter’ Coffey is a fair dinkum Mallee legend, championing his small community from the back of a horse.
Story Sue Smethurst Photo Neil Newitt
Beulah is a blink and you’ll miss it speck on the map, tiny in size but home to one of the Mallee’s biggest personalities, Len ‘Squatter’ Coffey, who is immortalised on a 100m tall grain silo, on the outskirts of town.
“When they first asked me if I’d like to be on the silo, I said they’d better ask around town because I didn’t want to be up there annoying people every day,” he laughs as we pull up to the silo.
“See that tree there,” he says pointing to a gum tree beside the silo, flourishing despite the obvious dry conditions, “I planted that tree when I started working at GrainCorp because we needed some shade during the day when we were working. That was more than 55 years ago and it’s still there.”
Every morning, rain, hail or shine, Squatter, 73, saddles up a horse (his current favourite is a white-nosed pony named Munta) and heads off exploring the bush surrounding Beulah. Along the way, he’ll say hello to any one of the town’s 100-odd residents out and about. He knows them all, of course.
This story excerpt is from issue #166
Outback Magazine: Apr/May 2026
