81-671: Omeo ( / ˈ oʊ m iː oʊ / OH -mee-oh ) is a town in Victoria , Australia on the Great Alpine Road , east of Mount Hotham , in the Shire of East Gippsland . At the 2016 census , Omeo had a population of 406. The name is derived from an Aboriginal word for 'mountains' or 'hills'. Omeo is affectionately known as the City of the Alps with many historic buildings remaining in
162-554: A Bug Motel. In 1851 Reverend W B Clark, a noted geologist reported that he had found evidence of gold in quantities that would make the mining of it economically feasible. Alluvial deposits of gold were found in tributaries of the Livingstone Creek, and by the end of 1854, over 200 men were camped along its banks digging for gold, most of it was found within a metre or so of the surface. The Oriental Claims area alone produced an estimated 58,000 ounces of gold. By 1855, most of
243-575: A Catholic School with an enrolment of 80 students. Today the school has approximately 50 students. The school also offers an annual Ski Program for its students which is unique to places located close to the snowfields. The town has an Australian rules football team competing in the Omeo & District Football League (ODFL), as well as an affiliated netball team competing in the associated netball competition. They fielded senior and junior football teams, and senior, junior and midget netball teams, and had
324-756: 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
405-794: 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,
486-465: 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 is the second-largest among Australian states and is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating. Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to
567-583: 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
648-799: A number of museums, art galleries, and theatres; in 2016 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 ,
729-602: 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
810-541: 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
891-423: A town market held at the courthouse gardens prior to the event, Easter Sunday Polo Match at Cobungra Station (20 minutes), Caravan & RV Muster and an Agricultural Show in November. The town has a range of services including a Hospital, Chemist, Transport Services, Supermarket, Post Office, Shire Services, Banking, Engineering & Mechanical, and a range of Food & Accommodation outlets. Attractions include
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#1732791840265972-556: A year is the Hinnomunjie Cup meeting held at nearby Hinnomunjie in March. Omeo has a 9 Hole Grassed Green golf course located on Stanley Drive, 5 minutes from the town centre. Omeo boasts new and updated sporting facilities including tennis & netball courts, a football oval and a recreation reserve complete with a function room and commercial kitchen. On weekends the town is often visited by motorcyclists taking advantage of
1053-459: Is a loop track that views Ah Fong's Claim, and there is still evidence of the hydraulic system used to remove the gold. As a result of the gold rush there were plenty of criminals eager to rob a miner of his hard earned gold. The few troopers assigned to the area were too busy settling mining disputes and enforcing permits that crimes outside the claims were neglected. Murderers , con men and women and professional gamblers all utilized
1134-987: Is also home to four of Australia's 20 largest cities : Melbourne , Geelong , Ballarat and Bendigo . Victoria is home to numerous Aboriginal groups, including 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
1215-518: 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
1296-399: 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 ,
1377-828: 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
1458-425: 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
1539-459: 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
1620-409: Is surrounded by mountains. During the peak of the gold rush the town accommodated thousands of miners, farmers and businessmen however in 2006 statistics showed that it had a population of 452. This population decline was mainly due to the end of the gold rush but was also affected by the depression in the 1930s and the 1939 fires that claimed half the town, remarkably only killing two people. During
1701-471: 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
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#17327918402651782-596: 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
1863-529: The Black Friday bushfires of 1939, destroyed many buildings; many remain including the historical Omeo Bank House as well as the Omeo Coffee House which was built in 1879 and was a temperance boarding house as well as a restaurant, it is a timber building which was condemned in 1990, restored in 1990 and completed in 1995 when it housed its first guests after 25 years. It is now known as Snug as
1944-600: 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
2025-609: 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
2106-585: 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 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
2187-569: 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
2268-576: 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
2349-674: 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
2430-505: 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
2511-546: 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
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2592-503: The 1850s and 1860s significantly increased Victoria's population and wealth. By 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
2673-489: The 2006 election, the Legislative Council consisted of 44 members elected to eight-year terms from 22 two-member electorates. Oriental Claims The Oriental Claims are a former gold mining operation, or claim , located 2 km south of Omeo, Victoria , Australia . The Oriental Claims are named in reference to The Oriental Company which mined in the area from 1876 to 1904, and also in memory of
2754-410: 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
2835-440: 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
2916-598: The Colonial Bank of Australia. In 1892, the Commercial Bank. A.J. McDonald, one of the colony's leading architects designed the post and telegraph office and new courthouse. They were completed in 1891 and 1892 and remain unique for their architecture to this day. The Post Office near its present location opened on 1 January 1858. However, two earlier offices in different locations named Omeo were open in 1851 and 1856 to 1857. Earthquakes in 1885 and 1892, and
2997-682: The European settlement of the Omeo district it was inhabited by an Aboriginal clan numbering at approximately two hundred and fifty. There is little reported of these people in the years that the district was settled, although it is said that they were somewhat territorial and could be violent towards neighbouring tribes . However they had an alliance with the Bongillo clan who occupied the Wodonga district. The two tribes met annually to engage wives to
3078-726: The Justice Precinct which includes a working Court House built in 1893, the Oriental Claims , the Cuckoo Clock shop, and white water rafting on the Mitta Mitta River . The Cobungra River , Bundara River , Big River and Mitta Mitta River around nearby Anglers Rest , as well as the Tambo River , all provide good trout fishing . The Australian thriller Red Hill was filmed in and around
3159-668: 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
3240-414: 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
3321-484: 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
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3402-554: The club colours of Maroon and White. In 2007 the football and netball clubs merged with neighbouring town Benambra , to form the Omeo-Benambra (Alpine Ranges) Club. The new club colours are blue, teal and white, with the logo and jumpers showing teal snow-peaked mountains separated by a blue river under a blue sky. Omeo has a horse racing club , the Omeo District Racing Club, whose one picnic meeting
3483-686: 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
3564-602: 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
3645-418: The dryness, it only records 62.4 clear days annually and 128.4 cloudy days, as the town is susceptible to cold fronts off the Bass Strait . Omeo Primary School (No 831) is the oldest school in the region and was established in 1866 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2016. Until 1977 the school was once a Primary and Higher Elementary School, with enrolments around 100 students. The town also previously had
3726-584: The east coast of the Australian continent for the Kingdom of Great Britain . The first European settlement in 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
3807-439: The fine weather to ride the Great Alpine Road . Plans are currently underway by the labour government to install 121km of mountain biking trails to transform Omeo into a world-class mountain biking destination. Works are due to be completed in March 2023. Victoria (Australia) Victoria , commonly abbreviated as Vic , is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania ), with
3888-538: The gold rush period, gold was found throughout the surrounding district and it supported many small communities clustered around the gold strikes. These included Cassilis , Riley’s Creek, Brookville, Stirling, New Rush, Swifts Creek , Bald Hill Creek, The Gibbo, Wombat, Brandy Creek, The Big River, Cribbage Creek, Swindlers Creek and other small rivers that served as an attraction for eager miners. Today most of these areas are practically deserted with few houses or farming, however Swifts Creek still supports 281 residents and
3969-417: The gold rush to their own ends. However these criminals were a minority in the Omeo district, the majority of the people being hardworking miners. Magistrates were brought into the area to help minimize crime. One of the magistrates Mr. Brown is said to have described Omeo as the roughest and toughest goldfield in Australia as recorded in A.M Pearson’s historical recording ‘Echoes From The Mountains’. Before
4050-466: The highest altitude public bus in Australia. The town sits at the junction of the Omeo Highway and the Great Alpine Road . Due to its inland, valley location at a southern latitude, Omeo has a cool oceanic climate ( Cfb ) with four distinct seasons and a high diurnal range much of the year, with chilly nights year-round. It regularly experiences frost in summer—something which is unheard of in
4131-474: The hydraulic sluicing methods. Other companies also invested interest in the area at this time as did a number of individual miners. Chinese miners also made the best of the promised gold at the claims. Ah Fong and his small group of about four miners proved the most successful of the Asian miners and managed to extract 6,000 ounces (170 kg) of gold from their small claim between 1875 and 1883. Currently there
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#17327918402654212-492: 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
4293-471: The land for alluvial gold and gouged the land with a network of water races specifically designed for maximum water pressure . However, towards the last years of the company's operations disputes occurred between shareholders. Mining was eventually halted in 1904 due to environmental issues around the state of the Livingstone Creek and the Oriental Company went out of business. A solution
4374-438: The many Chinese miners (' Orientals ') that worked the area for over 50 years. During the main years of operation it is estimated that 58,000 ounces (1,600 kg ) of gold was extracted from the area, which would equate to over A$ 75 million at the 2010 gold price of over A$ 1,300 an ounce. The Oriental Claims are currently preserved as a Parks Victoria Historic Area covering about 202 hectares (500 acres). Contrary to
4455-602: The more established was the Pioneer Company who worked the Pioneer Claim for 25 years from 1856-1881, before selling to the Chinese Co-operative who continued mining the claim with relatively little success until 1888. This company was composed of no more than fifty men, and they were some of the first miners to use sluicing in the claims, creating water races and hydraulic systems to accommodate
4536-470: 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 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
4617-461: 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
4698-462: The northern hemisphere at such a low elevation and modest latitude. Snowfalls are common from May to October, but are generally light and short-lived due to a partial foehn effect . The lowest temperature in Victoria was recorded at Omeo (along with Falls Creek in July 1970); a reading of −11.7 °C (10.9 °F) on 15 June 1965. The town is exceptionally dry by eastern Victorian standards, being encompassed by great mountains on all sides. Despite
4779-427: The popular belief due to its name that it was an oriental ( Asian ) company , The Oriental Company was a European company that mined the area from 1876 to 1904, chiefly working its Oriental Claim. It was established by five shareholders and altogether the company leased two areas containing 43 hectares and rightfully owned another 25 hectares of prime mining land. The company used hydraulic sluicing to carve
4860-406: The process, water blasted away the alluvial gold-containing gravel and the gravel slush was channelled into rows of wooden sluice boxes and the gold ore collected. The first venture into quartz mining was at the Dry Gully field with the first battery being established at Mountain Creek. People came from all over the district to see a local identity, Miss Rogers, smash a large bottle of champagne over
4941-490: 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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#17327918402655022-509: The region as early as 1835. In 1845 gold was found in the Livingstone Creek which runs through Omeo, this caused the population to boom and by 1901, Omeo was at its peak with a population of 9400. They were prosperous times. The main street, Day Avenue, was packed every night with people out strolling, shopping and enjoying the evening air. Hotels and cafes were doing a roaring trade with free-spending miners, and businesses were booming. Businesses began to establish themselves. Banks arrived. In 1889,
5103-481: 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
5184-458: The shallow alluvial gold had been mined and the process of hydro-sluicing was introduced to the Omeo goldfields. In an operation that took nine months to complete a water race was constructed along the mountain slopes for a distance of almost nineteen kilometres. Giant flumes crossed gullies and ravines with the water arriving at about 190 feet above the creek and the alluvial deposits. Races were cut from almost every stream that could supply water. In
5265-487: 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
5346-603: 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
5427-523: 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
5508-400: The town. "Red Hill" tells the story of a fictional town, Red Hill and an escaped convict returning to the town to seek revenge on those who helped convict him. There are bus routes from Bright and Bairnsdale. The Bairnsdale bus runs weekdays, once both directions, and the Bright bus (Alps Link) timetable is less frequent in Summer and runs additional services during the ski season. Alps Link is
5589-429: The town. The town is still the commercial hub for the Omeo Region and is a service centre for outlying communities such as Benambra , Cobungra , Cassilis , Swifts Creek , and Ensay . The first reported sighting by Europeans of the wide plain that Indigenous peoples referred to as 'Omeo' was by the naturalist John Lhotsky from the southern Alps in 1834. The area was first visited by stockmen who drove stock through
5670-455: 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
5751-469: 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
5832-591: The wheel as it started up, and christen it the Mountain Maid. Bullock teams hauled multi-headed batteries up the mountains and across the alps to work the new-found reefs. Smile of Fortune, Rip Van Winkel, Happy Go Lucky, The Joker, and Inexhaustible were some of the names given to the many reef mines that opened up. The town hosts a range of events including the Mountain Calf Sales and Hinnomunjie Picnic Races in March, an Easter Saturday Rodeo with
5913-496: 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
5994-629: The young men of the tribe at the Bogong High Plains . Here they also indulged in the Bogong moths that hatched at the High Plains in great number which served as a delicacy in their diets. The environment was changed massively with the settlement of Europeans and the introduction of pests such as rabbits . The competition and danger associated with European settlement drove the Omeo tribe practically to extinction . The last known survivor
6075-497: 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
6156-523: 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
6237-434: 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
6318-461: Was employed as a stockman on Bindi station, south of Omeo. It is not known whether there are any present descendants. The first stations were founded in Omeo in December 1835. The area was originally settled by Livingstone. Livingstone Creek and Mount Livingstone were named after the first squatter in the area. Omeo when translated means mountains. This is relevant for the area that forms Omeo
6399-488: Was found in 1911 involving placing the mining waste or tailings on already worked ground and a new Oriental Company took up the claim, but this proved unprofitable and all mining pursuits essentially stopped in the Oriental Claims area by 1912. Prior to 1876 when the Oriental Company started to mine the claims the area was first mined by early squatters and then soon after it was mined by small companies. One of
6480-531: 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,
6561-657: 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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