In this season of frankincense and myrrh I have just been reading a really interesting book by David Hill The Gold Rush about Australia’s gold rushes in the second half of the 19th century. On my travels around Australia I have seen some of the physical legacy of the industry in splendid gold mining towns like Ballarat and Bendigo in Victoria, and ports like Maryborough and Cooktown in Queensland.
I was struck by some interesting parallels with the resource picture today. It was an incredibly globalised industry. The first discoveries in 1851 followed hot on the heels of the California Rush of 1849, when an Australian miner in California realised that he had seen similar rock formations in New South Wales. “Diggers” poured in from all over the world, including large numbers from China – which led to some political tensions.
As now, it was necessary to build infrastructure to develop the resources, which were often found long distances from the major population centres. One of the earliest examples was the Cobb & Co stagecoach company, who had to set up a network of stables so horses could be changed every 15 miles.I have visited a fascinating museum dedicated to the company in Toowoomba, Queensland.
The discovery of gold guaranteed the success of the fledgling colony. The population of Melbourne rose from 80,000 to half a million in ten years, and many of the city’s fine 19th century edifices were built on gold wealth. It also effectively ended the system of penal transportation, as it was no longer much of a deterrent when so many people were heading here of their own volition.
Resources – mineral, energy, and agricultural – continue to be a hugely important part of the Australian story, and British companies are big players in it. The current boom has begun to slow. But we will still see huge investment projects and massive export flows for a long time to come.