2  BIS Review 20/2010  Labour flowed strongly to the gold states, particularly Victoria, and Melbourne became the largest city in Australia. Some of this flow of labour came from other states. For example, the male populations of South Australia and Tasmania fell by 3 per cent and 17 per cent respectively in 1852.
But a large amount of labour also came from sharply increased immigration; the Australian population almost trebled during a 10-year period. 5 Wages rose sharply, at first in mining, then across the country as labour flowed to the diggings. Between 1850 and 1853, wages in Victoria rose by 250 per cent.