The transportation of convicts to Australia was phased out between 1840 and 1868. By 1860, the continent of Australia had been divided into FIVE separate colonies (not officially states yet, mate but seperation away from New South Wales), each not seeing eye-to-eye and exhibiting more loyalty to London to each other. A major force within the colonies was the �squatocracy� � the rich officers and settlers a.k.a. opportunists who had followed the explorers into fertile hinterlands. They simply laid claim to or �squatted� upon enormous tracts of land, often 20,000 acres and more. Free for all, mate with lots of social tension. Development of Australia was at a steady but unspectacular rate. Then came the GOLD RUSH period !

Gold was originally discovered in Australia by Rev. W.B. Clarke in 1841, but the news was suppressed. The Governor Sir George Gipps had said to him � �Put it away, Mr. Clarke, or we shall all have our throats cut!.� In 1851, Edward Hargraves, an Australian veteran of the California USA gold rush, went to the tributaries of the MacQuarie River near Bathurst, 170 km west of Sydney - and found gold, and the rush was ON ! Each colony tried to find their own. In Victoria, gold was found in Castlemaine, Ballarat and Bendigo. Gold rushes flared like �bushfire� around the continent for the next two decades. For all the chaos of the diggings, there was also considerable order, honesty, discipline and political solidarity between the �diggers� � contrasting with the lynch law of California USA. One glitch of course was the famous Eureka Stockade uprising by the diggers/miners against the authorities. The rest of the world, on hearing tales of giant nuggets and creeks paved with gold, set sail to Australia ! In 1852 alone, 95,000 new arrivals flooded into New South Wales and Victoria. The largest minority were the Chinese, who were much resented by the other settlers for their willingness to work hard, for keeping to themselves, and for their �sheer numbers� (probably because they looked different and stood out). Then also came the boom in highway robberies by Australian Bushrangers and legendary outlaws such as Ned Kelly - the Robin Hood of Australia.