Feature Profiles
3 January, 2026
SUMMER READING: Tarnagulla and the opera house in the same breath?
Tarnagulla and the Sydney Opera House - they could soon be mentioned in the same breath if the World Heritage bid succeeds. Chris Earl looks at the Golden Triangle and how the bid dubs our area as the Great Nuggets Landscape after its announcement in February 2025
IF THE hype materialises, millions more people could walk over the goldfields made famous by the 1869 discovery of the Welcome Stranger gold nugget.
The discovery by Cornish miners John Deason and Richard Oates the greatest in an area dubbed the Golden Triangle through the 1970s and 1980s when the tourism push had history in its sights.
Sovereign Hill at Ballarat, Swan Hill’s Pioneer Settlement and down Gippsland way, Coal Creek.
Smaller towns had their own museums displaying rusty mining and agricultural tools, faded photographs from the late 19th century, minute books of long-disbanded organisations and more.
The Golden Triangle - those heritage goldfields between Wedderburn, Inglewood and Dunolly - was pitched as lands in country Victoria where gold could still be found.
In 1950, there was hope of a new gold rush to Wedderburn after veteran prospector Bert Smith unearthed a nugget in Wilson Street. Then Dave Butterick came forward with his three nuggets that were spectacular: Golden Retriever was found on 11 March 1950 and valued at £1,3000. Wedderburn Dog was found the following day and Golden Wedge, a 7-ounce nugget, was found on 29 March 1950. In April 1950, over 8000 people came to Wedderburn to see them all on display.
Half a century earlier, the Poseidon nugget was found near Tarnagulla as well the Federal.
And then there was the Hand of Faith nugget that lit up Kevin Hillier’s detector at Kingower in 1980.
The Golden Triangle was still living up to its name, bringing amateur fossickers and prospectors to the Loddon Shire and adjoining districts and attracting investment in bigger, more professional operations that still pit the landscape of central Victoria.
Now, the Golden Triangle has been dubbed the Great Nuggets Landscape in a bold bid for the area to receive UNESCO World Heritage Listing.
A broad, but still to be defined, area running from Moliagul to Tarnagulla and Dunolly could be in the running to tap into an extra 2.2 million visitors a successful bid would bring to Victoria’s World Heritage goldfields.
Great Nuggets - perhaps always the Golden Triangle for locals - has been named as one of six sites on the Federal Government’s Australian list for the bid that is being pushed by the State Government and local councils.
Bid proponents say the Great Nuggets Historic Landscape embraces small townships and specific diggings that yielded the greatest concentration of the largest gold nuggets the world had ever known
They want World Heritage listing of the Victorian Goldfields in recognition of its outstanding global heritage significance, saying it can be a major catalyst for transformative regeneration of the region.
And they say the bid provides an opportunity to raise the socio-economic profile and outlook of the region’s cities, towns and local communities. “Parts of our region are thriving, but other parts are among the most socially disadvantaged areas in the country and many are experiencing population decline. This is coupled with the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
Documents say experience in other disadvantaged areas shows that World Heritage listing, when harnessed fully, can bring more and new investment, revitalise and reposition regions, create new opportunities for communities and secure jobs and young people’s futures.
“The unique building blocks are the region’s gold rush story, heritage assets and international significance,” bid officials say.
“The key focus on the sites to be considered for World Heritage listing is a small series of only the most authentic, intact and globally significant sites and buildings.
“Most, if not all, will be publicly owned and already protected on lists like the National Heritage List, the Victorian Heritage Register and Inventory, and in local planning schemes. In no way is there any consideration of the listing encompassing the entire Goldfields region.
“The listing would be against the backdrop of the thousands of other sites and buildings that are already recognised as of great heritage value across the region. World Heritage experts have advised that development can and will still occur, and prospecting and mining activities would continue, and will be managed as they are presently.
“In fact, Aboriginal Cultural Heritage, the environment, prospecting and mining are all part of the region’s continuing story and World Heritage listing.”
Australia’s Tentative Listing is being billed as recognising Victorian Goldfields’ outstanding global heritage significance and seeks to celebrate and protect the region’s multi-layered history – from the first peoples living on Country to the goldrush and subsequent waves of immigration.
Premier Jacinta Allan and federal minister Tanya Pliberseck last week said with enthusiasm that World Heritage listing would see the stories of local goldfields shared.
Two former premiers are key backers and patrons of the bid.
John Brumby said: “After 35 years of local advocacy, the Victorian Goldfields has received the approval to pursue World Heritage Listing. Being included on Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List reflects the nation’s commitment to gaining global recognition for this exceptional cultural landscape.
“Individuals, communities, traditional owner groups, World Heritage specialists, and government bodies at all levels have united with a common aim: to celebrate the diverse stories that form the history of the Victorian Goldfields.”
Denis Napthine says: “Achieving World Heritage status will bring extensive benefits to local communities with a huge boost in jobs, investment and dollars spent through enhanced tourism. In addition World Heritage status will deliver increased community pride, improved heritage conservation and economic development.”
As of last week, the towns of Moliagul and Tarnagulla are sitting in the wings with Castlemaine, Creswick and Walhalla ready to share what the governments say will be the same tourism stage as the Sydney Opera House.
Whether the Golden Triangle or Great Nuggets, the local region retains popularity with weekend prospectors looking for an outdoor experience and perhaps a big find. Gold detector weekends have become part of the offering at Wedderburn Caravan Park since Kristy Hourigan took over the accommodation setting not far from Hard Hill Reserve where the annual detector jamboree is staged.
How many of those extra 2.2 million people will venture outside of Ballarat or Bendigo and their immediate environs and seek the rich landscape of the Loddon and Central Goldfields shires remains a question at least the $4 million equal to today’s value of the Welcome Stranger nugget.
Plans for Great Nugget Landscape over the next 12 months may give an insight into investment opportunities for accommodation and even local roads and mobile phone connectivity, that will make our region attractive for some of those predicted 2.2 million new visitors.
Whether they come or not, the Golden Triangle towns will always be tempting prospectors to go over old ground .. hoping for for a nugget not found by the 19th century miners.