What were some of the problems created by the Australian gold rush?

Answer 1

Some of the problems created by the Australian gold rush were:

• The greater displacement of the indigenous people as more and more of them were forced off their land.
• Separation of families as fathers left their jobs and went to the goldfields, hoping to strike it rich, while their wives stayed behind, sometimes having to operate the farms and stations on their own.
• Environmentally, the goldrush was a disaster, although unrecognised at the time. Features of the Australian landscape were forever altered in the space of a few decades, and soil erosion was a major effect, the evidence of which can still be seen today. Water quality was affected as people used the creeks and rivers for all their activities, including bathing and washing dirty (sometimes disease-ridden) clothes. Water salinity rose as natural watercourses were diverted. Introduced noxious weeds decimated native flora and affected native fauna, as did the introduction of domestic animals to hitherto unpopulated areas.