Ballarat is the epicentre of Australia's first large goldrush in 1852. It is a small Victorian country town about 110 kms west of Melbourne. The architecture is impressive; many lovely buildings built over one hundred years ago, some converted to Cafes where Steve and I have enjoyed a lovely coffee. In 1852 some 13,000 impoverished Chinese from Guangzhou (sp?) arrived in Robe, South Australia and, to avoid a ten pound 'Chinese Tax' imposed by the Victorian Government, walked 320 kms overland in searing heat to Ballarat to seek their fortunes. Many left after the alluvial goldfields were spent and went to California, some even to the Klondike in Alaska. In the 1850s and extending in the 1900s (Australia federated in 1901) there was very strong feeling about Asian immigration and this culminated in the White Australia Policy in 1902 which ended fortunately in the 1970s. But many Australians from Ballarat and Bendigo, another gold town, are of Chinese descent, and they greatly enriched the culture, which was unstintingly Anglo-Celtic in other regions of Australia.
This is all irrelevant, perhaps, but consider the present; Australia is now the largest single continent supplier for energy and minerals. We have 38% of the world's uranium, a generous portion of LPG and oil deposits are being quietly discovered all the time. There is steel, aluminium, copper, nickel, titanium, and a host of other minerals. It has resulted in the biggest resources boom, feeding a voracious China, this country has ever seen, and the wealth in Western Australia, where most of it is located, has to be seen to be believed. I have a German speaking cousin in Perth who is selling beds imported from Deutschland which cost up to $AUD15K each and he can't keep up with demand!!
HNY folks, and stay warm in the Northern Hemisphere!!
Hugh
