In 2001, Australian celebrate the 150th anniversary of the official discovery of gold near bathrust in New south Wales. On 12 February 1851 , Edward Hargrave's found five grains of gold in mud washed from Lewis ponds Creek. Gold was such a valuable and desired material that for a while, the whole country was caught up in 'gold' fever'. Men left their jobs, homes and families to rush to the goldfields in New South Wales and Victoria. The fever spread to Queensland, and then finally to all the colonies of Australia. Within 10 years, the population had more than doubled, as eager gold diggers from Europe, America and Asia sailed to Australia in the hope of making their fortune. Australia was never the same again. New towns and cities grew quickly with the increase in population. More farming land was taken up to feed the diggers and their families. New industries developed to provide them with building materials, furniture, clothes and food, and equipment for the mines. But gold did not bring prosperity for all. As settlement spread, more and more aboriginal people were forced off their traditional lands. …
