Right now it is raining

Faraway Downs faces unfair competition from King Carney (Bryan Brown) who controls a monopoly on cattle driven to market (the old drover route was to South Australia, but with war imminent it is now to Darwin and cattle ships bound for Europe).

The owner of Faraway Downs, Lord Ashley is being hoodwinked by his manager, Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) a thirdrd generation employee on the one million acre spread. When Ashley drowns it is alleged he has been killed by the Aboriginal leader known as King George (David Gulpilil). Fletcher has had a son by an Aboriginal woman at Faraway Downs. He is Nullah (acted by the newcomer Brandon Walters), a mixed race or "half cast" boy of around 12-years-old. King George is Nullah's grandfather and his tutor in the old ways of lore and magic.