History of Victoria
The British explorer Captain James Cook discovered the coast of Victoria in 1770. In 1802 John Murray entered Port Phillip Bay. Settlement began at Portland Bay in 1834, and the next year colonists occupied the site of Melbourne. In 1836 the region became part of New South Wales and was called Port Phillip District. The district became the colony of Victoria in 1851. The discovery of gold the same year brought in many settlers.
In 1856 Victoria secured responsible government under its own constitution. A series of land acts, beginning in 1860, encouraged agriculture. In 1901 Victoria became a federated state in the new Commonwealth of Australia.
Joan Kirner, who became Victoria's first female premier in 1990, inherited the financial problems that Victoria had suffered since the 1980's. During her term, Victoria sold its State Bank to the federal Commonwealth Bank. The next premier Jeff Kennett, who was elected in 1992, supported privatization; he sold a number of publicly owned assets to private firms. After Steve Bracks became premier in 1999, he reversed some of the decisions made by Kennett.