As with a number of the other settlements in the country, it was gold that lay the foundations of the colony's prosperity. Though Perth had some exports in wool, timbers and minor metals, it was gold that would change the colony's fortunes.

The first strike in 1885 was in the far north of the colony, an area now known as the Kimberley region, and in 1892 even greater deposits were found near Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.

Though conditions on the goldfields were far more trying than any others the diggers had experienced, the wealth of the finds was so great that the rush drew miners from all over Australia as well as immigrants. While the remainder of Australia was in the grip of depression, the west boomed. Perth's position as the infant metropolis of Western Australia was assured.

The mines made Western Australia a viable entity and the colony was granted self government on 25th July 1890. Sir John Forrest who had served as the colony's Surveyor-General became the first premier of Western Australia. The late 1800s also brought talks of Federation to which the west was vehemently opposed.

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