The Eureka Story
In the early 1850s, the lure of gold was a magnet, drawing people from all over the world to the Victorian goldfields.
Ballarat became the new frontier, where tens of thousands of diggers worked their claims. All age groups, cultural backgrounds and some 20 nationalities were represented, turning the diggings into Australia's first multicultural community.
Within a few years however, anger over unjust mining licence fees and the brutal administration which collected them had reached boiling point. Simmering tensions exploded with the murder of a young Scottish digger, James Scobie, in a brawl outside Bentley's Eureka Hotel. Police corruption was suspected of letting the culprit go free, triggering a violent protest in which the pub was burnt to the ground.
Anti-government sentiment found a voice on November 11, 1854, when diggers formed the Ballarat Reform League. A charter, spelling out their political demands, called for the abolition of the dreaded licences, beginning with a simple but vital principle...
"That is it the inalienable right of every citizen to have a voice in making the laws that he is called on to obey, that taxation without representation is tyranny."
The diggers' fury was further ignited when three men were arrested and sentenced to prison for burning down Bentley's Eureka Hotel. Confrontation was inevitable.
On November 29, 12,000 people were present when the Southern Cross flag, was unfurled for the first time, becoming the symbol of their struggle. In an atmosphere of defiance and triumph, the diggers burned their licences and fired shots into the air.
The following day, under the leadership of a young Irishman Peter Lalor, a smaller but determined group swore the Eureka Oath;
"We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties."
Taking up arms, they marched to their camp, erecting barricades to form what would become the Eureka Stockade.
Sensing the air of rebellion, authorities ordered a crackdown, calling in reinforcements from Melbourne to help put down an increasingly angry mob.
After a two day stand-off, heavily armed troopers and police attacked the camp before dawn on Sunday, December 3, catching the diggers unprepared. Some 120 men were inside the stockade... outnumbered and outgunned, they were quickly overwhelmed. The fighting lasted less than a hour; over 30 people were killed. But this short-lived revolution became a lasting symbol of the struggle against injustice and oppression and a defining moment in the creation of the Australian spirit.
Like the storming of the Bastille and the Boston Tea Party before it, the Eureka Rebellion demonstrated the refusal of citizens to be dominated by unfair government and laws. It was an important step in the establishment of democratic principles including "taxation with representation" and the right of each person to have a say in how they are governed, along with the Australian notion of "a fair go for all".
The themes underlying the discontent on the Ballarat Goldfields still carry potent meaning in contemporary Australia; issues of freedom, human rights, democracy and national identity.
Visit the Eureka Centre, the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery and experience Blood on the Southern Cross for greater insight into the Eureka Rebellion.