Once Australia's northern capital, Newcastle Waters became a ghost town

Once Australia's northern capital, Newcastle Waters became a ghost town

A century ago politicians in Canberra decided to split the Northern Territory in two and make a remote town the capital of a brand-new jurisdiction called North Australia. A group of history buffs want to ensure this quirky piece of outback history is never forgotten.

Mates of ghost town Newcastle Waters, once North Australia's capital, want it back on the map

By Tom Robinson In an abandoned hotel in the Northern Territory ghost town of Newcastle Waters, Wayne Kraft says he can hear the walls talk. Walking through the building, he imagines the patrons and staff once occupying what was the only pub for hundreds of kilometres in every direction. “It’s the pub with no beer,” he says from the front bar, a stubby from home in hand. “It just reeks of that history.” Today, Newcastle Waters is a humble colle…