~ GOLD ~



The immigration rush Multicultural gold fields The New Gold Mountain Fear of the Chinese Stereotyping the Chinese Anti-Chinese riots and rorts Restrictive immigration Acts The walk from Robe Mining Aboriginal lands Images of Aboriginality Opportunities for Aborigines The Native Police Corps

SBS > Gold > Immigration and Population

The gold rush transformed a former convict colony into a first choice destination for free emigrants. Europeans, North Americans, South Americans, Indians, Chinese and Africans were among the thousands who answered the call of Australian gold. As an experiment in multiculturalism however, the gold fields were a failure. Fear and hatred of the Chinese miners led to violence and eventually, legislation to restrict their numbers. Often forgotten in gold rush history, Indigenous Australians were also greatly affected by the influx of migrants and the loss of land and culture.

The immigration rush
Hundreds and thousands of hopeful diggers rushed to Australia and transformed the population.
Multicultural gold fields
Diggers from all over the world created Australia’s first truly culturally diverse society on the gold fields.
The New Gold Mountain
Thousands of Chinese headed to Australia in search of fortune.
Fear of the Chinese
More than any other cultural group, the Chinese were singled out and despised on the gold fields.
Stereotyping the Chinese
Racist stereotypes fuelled the European diggers' sense of superiority.
Anti-Chinese riots and rorts
Fear and hatred of the Chinese soon escalated to violence.
Restrictive immigration Acts
Colonial authorities introduce legislation to control Chinese migration.
The walk from Robe
Unable to land in Victorian ports in any great numbers, the Chinese travelled hundreds of miles overland from South Australia to the diggings in Victoria.
Mining Aboriginal lands
The gold rush was another battle in the continuing war against Aboriginal culture.
Images of Aboriginality
Many diggers held low opinions of the Indigenous Australians but others, based on more positive relationships, thought highly of the Aboriginal race and culture.
Opportunities for Aborigines
Indigenous Australians did not stand idly by as the gold rush erupted around them. Many made the most of opportunities for trade, jobs and knowledge.
The Native Police Corps
Perhaps the most significant contribution Indigenous Australians made to the gold rush was as policemen in the Native Police Corps.

Australian soldiers were called diggers, as many men who fought for Australia in WWI were diggers from the goldfields.

"Gold is not found in quartz alone; its richest lodes are in the eyes and ears of the public."
Samuel Butler.

It is estimated that at least 20% of all the gold mined since 1500 has been wrung from the earth during only fifty years' worth of gold rushes in the nineteenth century.

A 150th anniversary is a sesquicentenary.

In the first few years of Victoria's life as an independent colony, the Victorian Government sold �4,500,000 worth of Aboriginal land.

The Incas called gold the "sweat of the sun", while the Aztecs and the Mayans called it "the excrement of the sun".

A census of the Kimberly gold fields showed unqualified practitioners such as faith healers, tonic sellers and clairvoyants out-numbered legally qualified doctors three-to-one.

Australia now mines about 300 tonnes of gold annually � worth about $4.5million � making it the third-largest producer in the world, after South Africa and the United States. Gold is Australia�s second largest export after coal.

In 1965 archaeologists discovered the "Ramlah Hoard" � a collection of gold dinars and ingots dating from 761 to 976 � at Ramlah, near Jerusalem.

Gold fingerprinting technology, developed in Australia to help police trace the origin of stolen gold, is now being used to determine the origin of archaeological artefacts.