The Gold Rush was not beneficial for everyone for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the Chinese were treated very badly during the Australian Gold Rush, additionally, gold miners ruined Aboriginal land and finally, the Australian Gold rush created many social and economic problems for the whole Australian population.
Firstly, the Chinese were treated very badly during the Australian Gold Rush. People from non-European descent were considered to be inferior and were treated very badly as a result. The Chinese (and no other migrant group) had to pay a £10 entry fee at Victorian ports according to the highly racist ‘White Australia Policy’. The Chinese also had to pay a Protection Fee in order to get a ’Protector’ that was appointed to keep them separate from the entire European population. Hence, the Chinese were treated very badly during the Australian Gold Rush.
Additionally, gold miners ruined Aboriginal land. Whilst the gold miners were looking for gold they ruined Aboriginal land by cutting down many trees for firewood. The mining for gold itself turned perfectly clean water from streams into dirty and cloudy water that would have been very unpleasant for the Aboriginals to drink. The miners also dug holes in the ground of Aboriginal land to create garbage pits, which damaged the land in the process. Therefore, gold miners ruined Aboriginal land.
Finally, the Australian Gold Rush created many social and economic problems for the whole Australian population. Alcohol abuse became a common problem among the miners during the Gold Rush because people were making and selling cheap spirits to mask the difficult living and working conditions. This problem became so bad that at one point the government banned the sale of alcohol on the diggings. Food supplies became very short during the Gold Rush so miners often went hungry because of the concentrated population in mining areas around Australia. Hardware was also in short