Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Nick Economou
Key terms/names
constitution of Victoria, constitutional reform, cosmopolitanism and wowserism,
demographic change, Dick Hamer, economic policy and social policy, electoral
systems, party systems and the pattern of government, Henry Bolte, Jeff Kennett,
Joan Kirner, John Cain, political economy, regional, rural and metropolitan Victoria,
Steve Bracks
ThestateofVictoriacanbethoughtofasAustralia’s‘second’statenotbecauseof
historical chronology (Victoria, previously known as the Port Phillip District, was
an administrative province of New South Wales [NSW] until formal separation on
1 June 1851 and was established after both NSW and Tasmania) but rather because
of demographics and economics. Victoria is the second most populous state after
NSW, and the state’s capital city, Melbourne, is Australia’s second most populous
city after Sydney. Victoria provides the second largest tranche of members to the
HouseofRepresentatives,andtheVictoriangovernorstandssecondinlinetobe
governor-general should the incumbent vacate the position.
Victoria is also important to the national economy, although the nature of its
contribution has changed over time. Initially settled (illegally) as an extension of the
Van Diemen’s Land fine wool industry by people such as John Batman and Edward
and Stephen Henty, Victoria received a massive infusion of free settlers with the
official discovery of gold in 1851 – the same year the Port Phillip District was
Economou, Nick (2019). Victoria. In Peter J. Chen, Nicholas Barry, John R. Butcher, David Clune, Ian
Cook, Adele Garnier, Yvonne Haigh, Sara C. Motta and Marija Taflaga, eds. Australian politics and
policy: senior edition. Sydney: Sydney University Press. DOI: 10.30722/sup.9781743326671
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