Victoria (Australia) Victoria responsible government with the passage of the Colony of Victoria Act 1855. Some of the leaders of the Eureka rebellion went on to become members of the Victorian Parliament. The first foreign military action by the colony of Victoria was to send troops and a warship to New Zealand as part of the Māori Wars. Troops from New South Wales had previously participated in the Crimean War. In 1901, Victoria became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia. As a result of the gold rush, Melbourne had by then become the financial centre of Australia and New Zealand. Between
Victoria (Australia) municipal areas. The state of Victoria is the second largest economy in Australia after New South Wales, accounting for a quarter of the nation's gross domestic product. The total gross state product (GSP) at current prices for Victoria was A$374 billion in June 2016, with a GSP per capita of A$60,595. The economy grew by 1.0 per cent in the 2015–16 financial year, less than the Australian average of 2.7 per cent. Finance and insurance is Victoria's largest income producing sector, while the health care and social assistance sector is the state's biggest employer. The shift towards service industries in