 Despite the fact that Aboriginal Australians fought alongside other Australian troops in the Boer War and both World Wars, no land was ever granted to these returning servicemen and -women, and in some cases, their land was taken from them, such as at Coranderrk and Cummeragunja Reserve.Following World War I, soldiers who had previously worked on irrigation activities along the Murray River during the years leading up to the war returned to find that their previous jobs were no longer available.The South Australian government responded as early as 1915 with the first of the acts of parliament designed to both repatriate and compensate returning servicemen, and to meet the political and economic need to 'sponsor' the development of intensively productive agriculture pursuits.