Victoria is the second most populous state The Commonwealth of Australia is made up of six states and two major mainland territories. There are also lesser territories that are under the administration of the federal government in Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 177. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales New South Wales , Australia's most populous state, is located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland, east of South Australia and encompasses the whole of the Australian Capital Territory. It was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe to the north, South Australia South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories to the west, and Tasmania Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located 240 kilometres south of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 (as of December 2008[update]), of whom almost half to the south, across the Bass Strait Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria. Victoria is the most densely populated state, and has a highly centralised population, with over 70% of Victorians living in Melbourne The metropolis is located on the large natural bay known as Port Phillip, with the city centre positioned at the estuary of the Yarra River . The metropolitan area then extends south from the city centre, along the eastern and western shorelines of Port Phillip, and expands into the hinterland. The city centre is situated in the municipality known, the state capital and largest city. Approximately 30,000 Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.7% of Australia's population are estimated to have lived in the area, before European settlement in Victoria began in the 1830s. The discovery of gold in 1851 at Ballarat Ballarat is a regional city in Victoria, Australia. In terms of population, it is both the third largest city and the largest inland city in state and Warrandyte Warrandyte is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham. At the 2006 Census, Warrandyte had a population of 7393 transformed it into a leading industrial and commercial centre.
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Etymology
Victoria, like Queensland Coordinates: 23°0′S 143°0′E / 23°S 143°E Queensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean, was named after Queen Victoria Victoria was the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death. Her reign as the Queen lasted 63 years and 7 months, longer than that of any other British monarch before or since, and her reign is the longest of any female, the monarch at the time.
History
Main article: History of Victoria Coming from New Zealand in 1770, Captain James Cook in HM Bark Endeavour sighted land at Point Hicks, about 70 km west of Gabo Island, before turning east and north to follow the coast of AustraliaAfter 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 New Holland is a historic name for the island continent of Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman as Nova Hollandia, naming it after the Dutch province of Holland, and remained in use for 180 years, under the administration The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction of the colonial government in Sydney. The first European settlement in the area later known as Victoria was established in October 1803 under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins at Sullivan Bay, Victoria on Port Phillip Bay Port Phillip (also commonly Port Phillip Bay or just The Bay) is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 square kilometres (480,000 acres) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi). Although it is extremely shallow for its size, most of the bay is navigable. The deepest portion is only 24 metres (79. It consisted of 308 convicts, 51 marines, 17 free settlers, 12 civil officers, a missionary and his wife. 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.
Map of Victorian Indigenous Australian The Indigenous Australians of Victoria, Australia shared many characteristics with those elsewhere on mainland Australia nations/language territoriesVictoria's next settlement was at Portland The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay, on the west coast of what is now Victoria. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman.
From settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, a separately administered part of New South Wales. In 1851, the British Government separated the area from New South Wales, proclaiming a new Colony of Victoria.
In 1851 gold was discovered near Ballarat Ballarat is a regional city in Victoria, Australia. In terms of population, it is both the third largest city and the largest inland city in state, and subsequently at Bendigo Bendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo municipality. It is approximately 131 kilometres (82 mi) from the state capital of Melbourne. Bendigo had an urban population of 76,051 on the 2006 Census night and is currently the fourth most populous city in Victoria with a estimated statistical. Later discoveries occurred at many sites across Victoria. This triggered one of the largest gold rushes The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled the world has ever seen. The colony grew rapidly in both population and economic power. In ten 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 the world" and the largest gold nugget. Victoria produced in the decade 1851–1860 20 million ounces of gold, one third of the world's output[citation needed].
Swearing Allegiance to the Southern Cross at the Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion of 1854 was an organised rebellion by gold miners which occurred at Eureka Lead in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The Battle of Eureka Stockade fought on 3 December 1854, named for the stockade structure erected by miners during the conflict, was the most significant civil war in the colonial history of Victoria, resulting in on 1 December 1854 — watercolour by Charles DoudietImmigrants arrived from all over the world to search for gold, especially from Ireland and China. Many Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy is particularly strong in Bendigo and its environs. Although there was some racism directed at them, there was not the level of anti-Chinese violence that was seen at the Lambing Flat riots in New South Wales. However, there was a riot at Buckland Valley near Bright in 1857. Conditions on the gold fields were cramped and unsanitary; an outbreak of typhoid at Buckland Valley in 1854 killed over 1,000 miners.
In 1854 there was an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria by miners protesting against mining taxes (the "Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion of 1854 was an organised rebellion by gold miners which occurred at Eureka Lead in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The Battle of Eureka Stockade fought on 3 December 1854, named for the stockade structure erected by miners during the conflict, was the most significant civil war in the colonial history of Victoria, resulting in"). This was crushed by British troops, but the discontents prompted colonial authorities to reform the administration (particularly reducing the hated mining licence fees) and extend the franchise. Within a short time, 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 became members of the Victorian Parliament.
The first foreign military action by the colony of Victoria was to send troops and a warship to New Zealand as part of the Maori Wars. Troops from New South Wales had previously participated in the Crimean War The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Duchy of Nassau. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining Ottoman Empire. Most of the.
In 1901 Victoria became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 language groups of indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north, and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, the eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British. As a result of the gold rush, Melbourne had by then become the financial centre of Australia and New Zealand. Between 1901 and 1927, Melbourne was the capital of Australia while Canberra was under construction. It was also the largest city in Australia at the time and the second largest city in terms of population of the British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a (after London).[citation needed] Whilst Melbourne remains an important and influential financial centre, home to many national and international companies, it was slowly overtaken by Sydney in business importance around the 1970s and 1980s.
On Saturday 7 February 2009 ("Black Saturday"), the state was affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday 7 February 2009 during extreme bushfire-weather conditions, resulting in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire. 173 people died as a result of the fires and 414 were injured, resulting in 173 deaths.[5][6]
Government
Main article: Government of Victoria The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. The Victorian Constitution says: "the Legislature of Victoria has full power and authority." In practice, however, the independence of the Australian The Victorian Parliament House, built in 1856, stands in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council Chamber, as photographed in 1878. One of many local government seats, Geelong Town HallParliament
Main articles: Parliament of Victoria, Victorian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Victoria in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne, and Victorian Legislative CouncilVictoria has a parliamentary form of government based on the Westminster System The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Legislative power resides in the Parliament consisting of the Governor (the representative of the Queen), the executive (the Government), and two legislative chambers. The Parliament of Victoria consists of the lower house Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Victoria in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne, the upper house Legislative Council and the Queen of Australia The monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.
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 a new multi-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 single transferable vote is a preferential voting system in which votes are initially allocated to an elector's most preferred candidate and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, transfers surplus or unused votes according to the voters' stated preferences. The system is designed[citation needed] to minimize " proportional representation Proportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a class of voting system aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections, and the percentage of seats they receive (e.g., in legislative assemblies). 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 the 2006 Election the Legislative Council consisted of 44 members elected to eight-year terms from 22 two-member electorates.
Premier and cabinet
The Premier of Victoria Before the 1890s, there was no formal party system in Victoria. Party labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. From the 1880s, until after Federation in 1901, Victorian politics were dominated by Protectionist Liberals, who were opposed by Free Trade Conservatives. The Labor Party did not emerge as a major party until after 1910, is the leader of the political party or coalition with the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier is the public face of government and, with cabinet A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of the government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or Executive Committee, sets the legislative and political agenda. Cabinet consists of representatives elected to either house of parliament. It is responsible for managing areas of government that are not exclusively the Commonwealth's, by the Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution was approved in referendums held over 1898–1900 by the people of the Australian colonies, and the approved draft, such as education, health and law enforcement. The current premier of Victoria is Mr John Brumby.
Governor
Main article: Governors of VictoriaExecutive authority is vested in the Governor of Victoria who represents and is appointed by Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II is queen regnant of 16 independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. She. The post is usually filled by a retired prominent Victorian. The governor acts on the advice of the premier and cabinet.
Constitution
Victoria has a written constitution. Enacted in 1975, but based on the 1855 colonial constitution, it establishes the parliament as the state's law-making body for matters coming under state responsibility. The Victorian Constitution can be amended by the parliament of Victoria. Under new provisions to be enacted, changes to the Victorian Constitution will be subjected to a plebiscite of votes, voting in a referendum.
Meattradenewsdaily (blog)
... together with Beulah and Jeparit orders from Victoria that left many other buyers out of the equation as they lifted prices for lightweights. ...
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hu, 27 May 2010 18:00:00 GM
Royal Challengers Bangalore (India), . Victoria. (. Australia. ) and Wayamba (Sri Lanka) are the only teams from 2009 to re-qualify for 2010, although the West Indian representative is yet to be determined. They will be joined by Chennai Super ...
