The Eureka Stockade

Introduction

The 1850s was a restless time in Australia's history. The colony of Victoria was formed after the district of Port Phillip separated from New South Wales. At the same time, gold was discovered in Australia and this discovery led to rapid growth in the country's population and economic prosperity. This growth, in turn, led to many social and political changes. Democratic developments were fast-tracked by events around the country. Probably the most famous event was the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion that took place in the Victorian goldfields.

The goldfields

During the 1850s, Australia had a very limited version of democracy. Because only wealthy men could vote and stand for parliament, power was concentrated in the hands of a small section of society. Poor people were unhappy that they were locked out of the government system like this. They also felt that government authorities like the police, the defence forces and the court system sided with the rich and powerful while treating the poor with contempt.

The goldfields in Victoria were fertile environments for these feelings to grow. Lots of people were crowded into small spaces in tents and generally lived in poor conditions. It was easy for people to feel discontent.

See image 1

Because there were so many people living on the goldfields, the government kept a presence there in order to keep control. It included police and troopers (mounted police officers), judges and commissioners. At the Ballarat goldfields they lived in a separate section - where there was also a gaol and a courthouse - overlooking the tents.

The miners felt that the government authorities treated them in heavy-handed ways. An example was the licence system, whereby miners had to buy expensive licences in order to be allowed to look for gold. The troopers enforced the system by doing licence-hunts, where they would charge through the camps and demand that people show their licences. People who did not produce a licence were likely to have been arrested. Sometimes people were arrested who were not even miners.

Mounting protest

The miners' belief that the authorities supported the rich and powerful was reinforced when wealthy hotel owner, James Bentley, went to court for shooting a miner. The judge and the commissioner said he was innocent. The miners were furious. Weeks of rioting and protest followed the court hearing. The miners burnt down Bentley's hotel and later, at a public meeting, they burnt their gold licences.

At another public meeting the miners formed the Ballarat Reform League. The League demanded changes to the way things were run on the goldfields so that miners would be treated fairly. They also called for democratic changes to make government itself fairer. They wanted all men - not just landowners - to be able to vote and stand for parliament.

As emotions boiled, the miners spoke about defending their rights and liberties. There were more clashes with police. Led by an Irishman named Peter Lalor (see image 2), miners began to prepare for a battle against the government authorities. They gathered a stockpile of weapons and built a barricade, called a stockade, around a hill. They even hoisted their own flag: a silvery-white Southern Cross on a dark blue background.

The rebellion

A couple of days later, the government sent soldiers to attack the stockade. It happened early on a Sunday morning, a time when no one expected the government to strike. The battle only lasted about 15 minutes. A few soldiers and many miners were killed. Peter Lalor managed to escape, although he lost an arm as a result of the battle. No-one would tell the authorities where he was even though a huge reward was offered to anyone who would help find him.

See image 3

Many people were arrested after the rebellion but only some of them were officially charged with crimes. They were tried in a court in Melbourne but the jury found them not guilty. Like the jury, most of the public sympathised with the miners and felt the government's response had been harsh.

The Victorian governor set up an inquiry into the events at Eureka. The results of the inquiry led to better conditions for the miners and for working people in general. Licences were replaced with a much cheaper miner's right. Instead of the commissioners ruling over events in the goldfields, local courts were set up and were run by people who were elected by the miners.

Miners even gained themselves a say in government. They were soon given the right to vote and to stand for parliament, along with all other adult men. A new law meant that eight members of Victoria's upper house or legislative council had to be people from the goldfields. Later that year Peter Lalor was elected to parliament and went on to have a successful political career.