68-856: The Heysen Tunnels are twin tube road tunnels which carry the South Eastern Freeway under Eagle On The Hill in the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia . The tunnels were excavated using a tunnelling machine normally used in heavy-duty mining operations which tunnelled through 500 metres (1,600 ft) of rock for each tunnel at an average rate of 3 metres (9.8 ft) per day. The tunnels were completed in 1998 and opened in March 2000. Each tunnel carries three lanes of traffic. As at 2015, 45,700 vehicles passed through them daily. The maximum height of vehicles permitted in
136-595: A certain speed; this was made worse with brake failures. It took some time, and the addition of several warning signs prior to the descent, for heavy vehicles to become familiar with the freeway's characteristics. Semi-trailers can be seen travelling as slow as 20–30 km/h downhill. In 2005 changeable electronic road signs were installed every 200 metres, so that the speed limit of the road can be adjusted from Transport SA headquarters in Adelaide . This has both improved safety for commuters, and emergency service workers like
204-756: A child, 307 convicts, 17 convicts' wives, and seven children). They had been sent from England in HMS ; Calcutta under the command of Captain Daniel Woodriff , principally out of fear that the French, who had been exploring the area, might establish their own settlement and thereby challenge British rights to the continent. In 1826, Colonel Stewart, Captain Samuel Wright, and Lieutenant Burchell were sent in HMS Fly (Captain Wetherall) and
272-794: A cooler, mountain climate in the centre of the state. Winters along the coast of the state, particularly around Melbourne , are relatively mild ( see chart ). The coastal plain south of the Great Dividing Range has Victoria's mildest climate. Air from the Southern Ocean helps reduce the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Melbourne and other large cities are located in this temperate region. The Mallee and upper Wimmera are Victoria's warmest regions with hot winds blowing from nearby semi-deserts. Average temperatures exceed 32 °C (90 °F) during summer and 15 °C (59 °F) in winter. Except at cool mountain elevations,
340-583: A new multi-member proportional representation system. The State of Victoria was divided into eight electorates with each electorate represented by five representatives elected by Single Transferable Vote . The total number of upper house members was reduced from 44 to 40 and their term of office is now the same as the lower house members—four years. Elections for the Victorian Parliament are now fixed and occur in November every four years. Prior to
408-602: A rate of 8,227 per 100,000 people, up 4.4% on the previous year. While there have been some dips along the way, the rate of recorded offences have increased year on year since 2011, when the figure was 6,937.7 offences per 100,000 people. Victoria has a parliamentary form of government based on the Westminster System . Legislative power resides in the Parliament consisting of the Governor (the representative of
476-598: A semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming eels. At the Keilor Archaeological Site , a human hearth excavated in 1971 was radiocarbon-dated to about 31,000 years BP , making Keilor one of the earliest sites of human habitation in Australia. A cranium found at the site has been dated at between 12,000 and 14,700 years BP . Archaeological sites in Tasmania and on
544-440: A sewage truck lost control after passing the arrestor beds. The driver was a new employee, who had never driven a manual truck before, and had never driven any vehicle on this segment of road. Driver Darren Hicks was seriously injured and testified against employer Cleanaway at a criminal trial after being granted immunity. The prosecution, brought by Comcare , heard that the brakes on the vehicle were defective. In 2021 Cleanaway
612-626: A six-lane, dual-carriageway route. As it traverses across – and through, in one section, via the Heysen Tunnels – the Adelaide Hills , and due the fact the freeway is a major freight route, it also features arrester beds and concrete median barriers, with street lighting between Glen Osmond and Crafers. The freeway narrows to four lanes just before it bypasses Crafers , and continues in a south-easterly direction, past Stirling , Hahndorf and Mount Barker , before narrowing further to
680-741: A sports marketing company named it the world's sporting capital. Victoria has 38 seats in the Australian House of Representatives and 12 seats in the Australian Senate . At state level, the Parliament of Victoria consists of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council . The Labor Party , led by Jacinta Allan as premier , has governed Victoria since 2014. The Governor of Victoria ,
748-579: A two-lane, single-carriageway, crossing the Murray River over the Swanport Bridge , to terminate just east of the crossing in Long Flat , south-east of Murray Bridge . Prior to the initial construction of the freeway in the 1960s, inbound and outbound road traffic between Adelaide and south-eastern South Australia or Victoria used a two-lane highway originally built in the early part of
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#1732780967891816-467: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . South Eastern Freeway South Eastern Freeway is a 73 km (45 mi) freeway in South Australia (SA). It is a part of the National Highway network linking the state capital cities of Adelaide , SA, and Melbourne , Victoria , and is signed as route M1 . It carries traffic over the Adelaide Hills between Adelaide and
884-518: Is at 39°12' S, which passes through Boundary Islet in the Bass Strait for 85 metres. Victoria contains many topographically, geologically and climatically diverse areas, ranging from the wet, temperate climate of Gippsland in the southeast to the snow-covered Victorian alpine areas which rise to almost 2,000 m (6,600 ft), with Mount Bogong the highest peak at 1,986 m (6,516 ft). There are extensive semi-arid plains to
952-399: Is divided into distinct geographic regions , most commonly for the purposes of economic development , while others for land management (agriculture or conservation) and for censusing (statistical or meteorological) or electoral purposes. The most commonly used regions are those created by the state government for the purposes of economic development . In addition to Greater Melbourne ,
1020-828: Is heavier. Rainfall is most reliable in Gippsland and the Western District , making them both leading farming areas. Victoria's highest recorded daily rainfall was 377.8 mm (14.87 in) at Tidal River in Wilsons Promontory National Park on 23 March 2011. At March 2024 Victoria had a population of 6,959,200. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that the population may well reach 10.3 million by 2051. Victoria's founding Anglo-Celtic population has been supplemented by successive waves of migrants from Southern and Eastern Europe , Asia and, most recently, Africa and
1088-425: Is located 10 km (6 mi) south of Bendigo . Due to its central location and the region's historical ties to the gold rush, the town is widely regarded as the "Heart of Gold". The state's capital, Melbourne, contains about 70% of the state's population and dominates its economy, media, and culture. For other cities and towns, see list of localities (Victoria) and local government areas of Victoria . Victoria
1156-459: Is particularly strong in Bendigo and its environs. In 1854 at Ballarat, an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria was made by miners protesting against mining taxes (the " Eureka Stockade "). This was crushed by British troops, but the confrontation persuaded the colonial authorities to reform the administration of mining concessions (reducing the hated mining licence fees) and extend
1224-566: Is still the longest, and the only one with "Freeway" in its name rather than "Expressway" or "Highway". South Eastern Freeway includes 500 m (1,600 ft) twin-tube tunnels – the Heysen Tunnels – in the descent towards Adelaide, the first of their kind on the National Highway. South Eastern Freeway commences at the intersection with Glen Osmond Road , Cross Road and Portrush Road in Glen Osmond , and heads southeast as
1292-478: Is the second-largest among Australian states and is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating. Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet ), the Great Australian Bight portion of the Southern Ocean to
1360-471: The Australian Bureau of Statistics as being a population cluster of 1,000 or more people. The below figures broadly represent the populations of the contiguous built-up areas of each city: Victoria has a varied climate that ranges from semi-arid temperate with hot summers in the north-west, to temperate and cool along the coast. Victoria's main land feature, the Great Dividing Range, produces
1428-596: The Bass Strait Islands have been dated to between 20,000 to 35,000 years ago when sea levels were 130 metres below present level allowing First Nations Peoples to move across the region of southern Victoria and onto the land bridge of the Bassian plain to Tasmania by at least 35,000 years ago. During the Ice Age about 20,000 years BP , the area now the bay of Port Phillip would have been dry land, and
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#17327809678911496-1044: The Boonwurrung , the Bratauolung , the Djadjawurrung , the Gunai , the Gunditjmara , the Taungurung , the Wathaurong , the Wurundjeri , and the Yorta Yorta . There were more than 30 Aboriginal languages spoken in the area prior to European colonisation. In 1770 James Cook claimed the east coast of the Australian continent for the Kingdom of Great Britain . The first European settlement in
1564-483: The Country Fire Service . In 2010 and 2011, after more incidents involving trucks having problems successfully braking down the hill, including one going into a bus stop, and another going straight through the intersection at the bottom, the government added new laws that any vehicle with 5 axles or more must stay in the left lane and must not exceed a 60 km/h limit from the interchange at Crafers to
1632-600: The Middle East . Victoria's population is ageing in proportion with the average of the remainder of the Australian population. About 72% of Victorians are Australian-born. This figure falls to around 66% in Melbourne but rises to higher than 95% in some rural areas in the north west of the state. Less than 1% of Victorians identify themselves as Aboriginal . More than 75% of Victorians live in Melbourne, located in
1700-579: The Princes Highway , including: Shortly after the Adelaide–Crafers section opened, several incidents involving semi-trailers drew media attention to the road. While the previous Mount Barker Road was a notorious stretch, its dangers were well known; the new freeway presented the new challenge of a sustained continuous gradient with traffic lights at the bottom. Heavy vehicles with inadequate braking found it hard to slow down once they had exceeded
1768-597: The River Murray , near Murray Bridge , where it is connected via the Swanport Bridge to the Dukes Highway , which is the main road route to Victoria. It was formerly signposted as Princes Highway , which refers to the coastal route from Adelaide to Sydney via Melbourne . It is often referred to by South Australians simply as the freeway , as it was the first freeway in South Australia, and
1836-551: The Victoria State Government has divided Victoria into five regions covering all parts of the state. The five regional Victoria divisions are: The Australian Bureau of Meteorology defines regions for its own purposes, some of which share names with the economic regions, even though the exact boundaries may not correlate. As of November 2014, they are: This is a list of places in the Australian state of Victoria by population. Urban centres are defined by
1904-541: The Victorian border and beyond as Western Highway . Victoria, Australia Victoria , commonly abbreviated as Vic , is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania ), with a land area of 227,444 km (87,817 sq mi); the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales ), with a population of over 6.9 million; and the most densely populated state in Australia (30.6 per km ). Victoria's economy
1972-569: The Wada wurrung , Woiwurrung and Bun wurrung languages describe the flooding of the bay. Hobsons Bay was once a kangaroo hunting ground. Creation stories describe how Bunjil was responsible for the formation of the bay, or the bay was flooded when the Yarra River was created. Victoria, like Queensland , was named after Queen Victoria , who had been on the British throne for 14 years when
2040-576: The Yarra and Werribee rivers would have joined to flow through the heads then south and south west through the Bassian plain before meeting the ocean to the west. Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands became separated from mainland Australia around 12,000 BP, when the sea level was approximately 50m below present levels. Port Phillip was flooded by post-glacial rising sea levels between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago. Oral history and creation stories from
2108-674: The electoral franchise . The following year, the Imperial Parliament granted Victoria responsible government with the passage of the Colony of Victoria Act 1855. Some of the leaders of the Eureka rebellion went on to become members of the Victorian Parliament. In 1857, reflecting the growing presence of Irish Catholic immigrants, John O'Shanassy became the colony's second Premier with the former Young Irelander , Charles Gavan Duffy as his deputy. Melbourne's Protestant establishment
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2176-427: The metropolitan area of Greater Melbourne , Victoria's state capital and largest city and also Australia's second-largest city , where over three-quarters of the culturally diverse population live (35.1% of inhabitants being immigrants ). The state is also home to four of Australia's 20 largest cities : Melbourne , Geelong , Ballarat and Bendigo . Victoria is home to numerous Aboriginal groups, including
2244-505: The pink heath (state flower), Leadbeater's possum (state animal) and the helmeted honeyeater (state bird). Ecological communities include Victorian Volcanic Plain grasslands , Northern Plains Grassland and Gippsland Plains Grassy Woodland , all of which are critically endangered. According to Geoscience Australia , the geographic centre of Victoria is located in Mandurang at 36° 51' 15"S, 144° 16' 52" E. The small rural locality
2312-546: The population growth peak of 1969–72. In 2017, Victoria recorded a TFR of 1.724. The "average Victorian" according to the demographic statistics may be described as follows: In the year ending September 2020, the statistics were skewed by the introduction of six new public safety offences relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia . Total offences numbered 551,710, with 32,713 of these being breaches of Chief Health Officer Directions. The total offences occurred at
2380-410: The 2016 census, 72.2% of Victorians speak English at home. Speakers of other languages include Mandarin (3.2%), Italian (1.9%), Greek (1.9%), Vietnamese (1.7%), and Arabic (1.3%). In the 2016 Census, 47.9% of Victorians described themselves as Christian , 10.6% stated that they followed other religions and 32.1% stated that they had no religion or held secular or other spiritual beliefs. In
2448-440: The 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: 0.8% of the population, or 47,788 people, identified as Indigenous Australians ( Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders ) in 2016. At the 2016 census, 64.9% of residents were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were England (2.9%), India (2.9%), Mainland China (2.7%), New Zealand (1.6%) and Vietnam (1.4%). As of
2516-535: The 20th century. With growth in Adelaide's population, issues of congestion and safety mandated reconstruction. Studies began in 1962 for a freeway commencing from Crafers, that endpoint selected arguably due to the massive expenditure required with the precedent upgrade of the Mount Barker Road . Construction began in 1965 from Crafers. The first stage of eastbound traffic lanes were opened in 1967, and
2584-668: The King), the executive (the Government), and two legislative chambers. The Parliament of Victoria consists of the lower house Legislative Assembly , the upper house Legislative Council and the monarch . Eighty-eight members of the Legislative Assembly are elected to four-year terms from single-member electorates. In November 2006, the Victorian Legislative Council elections were held under
2652-706: The Mount Barker Road, which had been contoured to the Adelaide Hills, giving rise to many steep turns, ascending a tortuous route. The tightest hairpin turn on the Mount Barker Road was infamous as the Devil's Elbow , often the site of car and semi-trailer accidents. On 16 May 1995, Prime Minister Paul Keating announced the construction of the new Adelaide-Crafers section. The Heysen Tunnels , named after well-known South Australian artist and benefactor Hans Heysen , were completed in 1998. Construction
2720-807: The Mount Barker interchange to service growing housing estates in southern Mount Barker and Nairne . Bardavcol started construction in May 2015, with the interchange including entry and exit ramps in both directions. The $ 27mil project was funded with $ 16mil by the Federal Government, $ 8mil by the Government of South Australia and $ 3mil from the Mount Barker District Council . The new interchange opened on 15 August 2016. The Freeway bypasses many towns previously along
2788-497: The area occurred in 1803 at Sullivan Bay . Much of Victoria was included in 1836 in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. Named in honour of Queen Victoria , Victoria was separated from New South Wales and established as a separate Crown colony in 1851, achieving responsible government in 1855. The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased Victoria's population and wealth. By
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2856-414: The brigs Dragon and Amity , took a number of convicts and a small force composed of detachments of the 3rd and 93rd regiments. The expedition landed at Settlement Point (now Corinella ), on the eastern side of Western Port Bay, which was the headquarters until the abandonment of Western Port at the insistence of Governor Darling about 12 months afterwards. Victoria's next settlement was at Portland , on
2924-484: The centre of Victoria. Average temperatures are less than 9 °C (48 °F) in winter and below 0 °C (32 °F) in the highest parts of the ranges. The state's lowest minimum temperature of −11.7 °C (10.9 °F) was recorded at Omeo on 15 June 1965, and again at Falls Creek on 3 July 1970. Temperature extremes for the state are listed in the table below: Rainfall in Victoria increases from south to
2992-686: The colony was established in 1851. After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, Australia was divided into an eastern half named New South Wales and a western half named New Holland , under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney. The first British settlement in the area later known as Victoria was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Bay on Port Phillip. It consisted of 402 people (five government officials, nine officers of marines, two drummers, and 39 privates, five soldiers' wives and
3060-542: The country's first federal capital. Victoria's northern border follows a straight line from Cape Howe to the start of the Murray River and then follows the Murray River as the remainder of the northern border. On the Murray River, the border is the southern bank of the river. This precise definition was not established until 1980, when a ruling by Justice Ninian Stephen of the High Court of Australia settled
3128-544: The first westbound section opened in 1969. The freeway was opened in stages as construction progressed. The final section bypassing the town of Murray Bridge and connecting to the new Swanport Bridge over the River Murray opened in 1979, providing an alternative to the historic bridge in Murray Bridge. The Adelaide–Crafers Highway extension came as a much-needed upgrade and replacement to the previous link road,
3196-455: The freeway, near Murray Bridge , feeds onto the Swanport Bridge , a two-lane, 1-kilometre-long (0.62 mi) bridge over the River Murray , where it joins Princes Highway , a dual-carriageway highway to Tailem Bend . At this point, Highway 1 becomes a two-laned, two-way scenic route which passes through many coastal towns of South Australia and Victoria. The National Highway continues to Melbourne as Dukes Highway (A8) from Tailem Bend to
3264-492: The inland monthly temperatures are 2–7 °C (4–13 °F) warmer than around Melbourne (see chart). Victoria's highest maximum temperature of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) was recorded in Hopetoun on 7 February 2009, during the 2009 southeastern Australia heat wave . The Victorian Alps in the northeast are the coldest part of Victoria. The Alps are part of the Great Dividing Range mountain system extending east–west through
3332-574: The northeast, with higher averages in areas of high altitude. Mean annual rainfall exceeds 1,800 millimetres (71 inches) in some parts of the northeast but is less than 280 mm (11 in) in the Mallee. Rain is heaviest in the Otway Ranges and Gippsland in southern Victoria and in the mountainous northeast. Snow generally falls only in the mountains and hills in the centre of the state. Rain falls most frequently in winter, but summer precipitation
3400-410: The old tollhouse. More safety cameras were installed in an attempt to ensure trucks abide by this new limit. Additional signs for the two arrester beds on the descent have been added, to encourage out of control drivers to use them as a safer alternative. In August 2014, another truck descending the hills collided with cars at the intersection of Glen Osmond Road. Two people were killed. A driver of
3468-490: The question as to which state had jurisdiction in the unlawful death of a man on an island in the middle of the river. The ruling clarified that no part of the watercourse is in Victoria. The border also rests at the southern end of the Great Dividing Range , which stretches along the east coast and terminates west of Ballarat. It is bordered by South Australia to the west and shares Australia's shortest land border with Tasmania . The official border between Victoria and Tasmania
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#17327809678913536-481: The representative of the monarch in the state, is currently Margaret Gardner . Victoria is divided into 79 local government areas , as well as several unincorporated areas which the state administers directly. The state of Victoria was home to many Aboriginal Australian nations that had occupied the land for tens of thousands of years before European settlement . According to Gary Presland , Aboriginal people have lived in Victoria for about 40,000 years, living
3604-487: The south west coast of what is now Victoria. Edward Henty settled Portland Bay in 1834. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman , who set up a base in Indented Head , and John Pascoe Fawkner . From settlement, the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, a separately administered part of New South Wales. Shortly after, the site now known as Geelong was surveyed by Assistant Surveyor W. H. Smythe, three weeks after Melbourne. And in 1838, Geelong
3672-428: The southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean ) to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid northwest. The majority of the Victorian population is concentrated in the central-south area surrounding Port Phillip , and in particular within
3740-603: The state's south. The greater Melbourne metropolitan area is home to an estimated 5,207,145 people. Urban centres outside Melbourne include Geelong , Ballarat , Bendigo , Shepparton , Mildura , Warrnambool , Wodonga and the Latrobe Valley . Victoria is Australia's most urbanised state: nearly 90% of residents living in cities and towns. State Government efforts to decentralise population have included an official campaign run since 2003 to encourage Victorians to settle in regional areas, however Melbourne continues to rapidly outpace these areas in terms of population growth. At
3808-523: The survey, 31.7% of Victorians stated they had no religion, Roman Catholics were 23.2%, 9.4% did not answer the question, 9% were Anglican and 3.5% were Eastern Orthodox . In 2017 the proportion of couples marrying in a civil ceremony in Victoria was 77.3%; the other 22.7% were married in a religious ceremony. The government predicts that nearly a quarter of Victorians will be aged over 60 by 2021. The 2016 census revealed that Australian median age has crept upward from 35 to 37 since 2001, which reflects
3876-421: The time of Australian Federation in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city in Australasia , and was the seat of Federal government until Canberra became the national capital in 1927. The state continued to grow strongly through various periods of the 20th and 21st centuries due to high levels of international and interstate migration. Melbourne hosts a number of museums, art galleries, and theatres; in 2016
3944-455: The treaty is unknown, although it is believed to have been by the Merri Creek . According to historian Meyer Eidelson, it is generally believed to have occurred on the Merri near modern-day Rushall Station. On 1 July 1851, writs were issued for the election of the first Victorian Legislative Council, and the absolute independence of Victoria from New South Wales was established proclaiming a new Colony of Victoria. Days later, still in 1851 gold
4012-503: The tunnels is 5.3 metres (17 ft), the same as the Crafers and Mt Osmond interchanges. Laser height detectors monitor traffic to provide warnings to drivers before they attempt to enter the tunnel. The tunnels are named after artist Sir Hans Heysen . [REDACTED] Australian Roads portal 34°58′27″S 138°40′34″E / 34.974089°S 138.676072°E / -34.974089; 138.676072 This Australian road or road transport-related article
4080-469: The west and northwest. There is an extensive series of river systems in Victoria. Most notable is the Murray River system. Other rivers include: Ovens River , Goulburn River , Patterson River , King River , Campaspe River , Loddon River , Wimmera River , Elgin River, Barwon River , Thomson River , Snowy River , Latrobe River , Yarra River , Maribyrnong River , Mitta River , Hopkins River , Merri River and Kiewa River . The state symbols include
4148-428: The world" and the largest gold nugget . In the decade 1851–1860 Victoria produced 20 million ounces of gold, one-third of the world's output. In 1855 the Geological Survey collected and determined the major ion chemistry for groundwater in Victoria. Immigrants arrived from all over the world to search for gold, especially from Ireland and China. By 1857, 26,000 Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy
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#17327809678914216-437: Was briefly Premier. In 1893 widespread bank failures brought to an end a sustained period of prosperity and of increasingly wild speculation in land and construction. Melbourne nonetheless retained, as the legacy of the gold rush, its status as Australia's primary financial centre and largest city. In 1901, Victoria became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia . While Canberra was being built, Melbourne served until 1927 as
4284-451: Was completed in early 2000. In March 2000, Prime Minister John Howard opened the new road. It was the largest South Australian road project at that time, costing A$ 151 million, wholly funded by the Australian Federal Government . An additional exit was built at Monarto around 1999 to service an expanding commercial zone and the Monarto Zoo in the area. Another exit was announced in 2014 at Bald Hills Road, 4 km southeast of
4352-437: Was convicted of eight charges under health and safety legislation. The Adelaide end of South Eastern Freeway leads downhill to traffic lights at the intersection of Glen Osmond Road which continues northwest as route number A1 into the Adelaide city centre , Portrush Road north to bypass the city and towards Port Adelaide, and Cross Road which leads west towards the southern suburbs of Adelaide. The southeastern end of
4420-419: Was declared void as Batman did not have permission from the Crown to establish Melbourne. Today, the meaning and interpretation of this treaty is contested. Some argue it was a pretence for taking Aboriginal land in exchange for trinkets, while others argue it was significant in that it sought to recognise Aboriginal land rights . The exact location of the meeting between Batman and the Kulin men with whom he made
4488-434: Was discovered near Ballarat , and subsequently at Bendigo . Later discoveries occurred at many sites across Victoria. This triggered one of the largest gold rushes the world has ever seen. The colony grew rapidly in both population and economic power. In 10 years, the population of Victoria increased sevenfold from 76,000 to 540,000. All sorts of gold records were produced, including the "richest shallow alluvial goldfield in
4556-464: Was ill-prepared "to countenance so startling a novelty". In 1858–59, Melbourne Punch cartoons linked Duffy and O'Shanassy to the terrors of the French Revolution . In 1862 Duffy's Land Act attempted, but failed, through a system of extended pastoral licences, to break the land-holding monopoly of the so-called "squatter" class . In 1871, having led, on behalf of small farmers, opposition to Premier Sir James McCulloch 's land tax , Duffy, himself,
4624-529: Was officially declared a town, despite earlier European settlements dating back to 1826. On 6 June 1835, just under two years before Melbourne was officially recognised as a settlement, John Batman, the leader of the Port Phillip Association presented Wurundjeri Elders with a land use agreement. This document, now referred to as the Batman treaty , was later given to the British government to claim that local Aboriginal people had given Batman access to their land in exchange for goods and rations. The treaty itself
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