Lambing flat riots
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Explore the scroll
- Before the gold rush
- Chinese workers
- Australian gold rush
- Chinese miners
- Anti-Chinese violence
- Lambing flat riots
- A safe haven
- Isolated and homesick
- Rise of merchants
- Market gardens and musicians
- Vendors and cooks
- Laundries and factories
- The general store
- Trouble in the homeland
- Opium
- Revolution in China
- Republican victory
- Healing the sick
- The strength of traditions
- Religion
- Developing the north
- Riverboat trade
- Entrepreneurs
- Politics and racism
- Invasion
- The support effort
- The Second World War
- The war effort
- The People's Republic of China
- Melbourne Olympics
- Colombo Plan
- Multiculturalism
- Professions
- Rising to the top
- Australia's Bicentenary
- Towards the future
- Final inscription
- How to read the scroll
- Creating the scroll
- The people
- Acknowledgements and bibliography
Lambing flat riots
The Australian goldfields were dangerous places for the Chinese. Here, Chinese miners are fleeing from European rioters who are attacking them with spades and picks.
Violence against Chinese miners
The worst violence against Chinese miners was in central New South Wales. European diggers were incensed by the Chinese and their apparent wastage of water when extracting gold. A weak police presence was unable to contain the situation. Six anti-Chinese riots occurred at the Lambing Flat camps over a period of 10 months. The most serious riot occurred on 14 July 1861 when approximately 2000 European diggers attacked the Chinese miners. Although they tried to get away from the violent mob, about 250 Chinese miners were gravely injured and most lost all their belongings. After this tragic event, Lambing Flat was renamed Young.
The pressure of public opinion against the Chinese caused the New South Wales Government to pass the Chinese Immigration Restriction and Regulation Act in 1861 to restrict the numbers of Chinese in the colony. Queensland introduced restrictions in 1877 and Western Australia followed suit in 1886.
