<P> Melbourne was a major boomtown during the gold rush . The city became the centre of the colony with rail networks radiating to the regional towns and ports . </P> <P> Politically, Victoria's goldminers sped up the introduction of greater parliamentary democracy in Victoria, based on British Chartist principles adopted to some extent by the miners' activist bodies such as Bendigo's Anti-Gold Licence Association and the Ballarat Reform League . </P> <P> As the alluvial gold dwindled, pressures for land reform, protectionism and political reform generated social struggles . and a Land Convention in Melbourne during 1857 recorded demands for land reform . </P> <P> By 1854 Chinese people were contributing to the gold rushes . Their presence on the goldfields of Bendigo, Beechworth and the Bright district resulted in riots, entry taxes, killings and segregation in the short term, and became the foundations of the White Australia policy . In short, the gold rush was a revolutionary event and reshaped Victoria, its society and politics . </P>

Who was involved in the victorian gold rush