Page 211 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 8 December 2004
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The Stanhope Labor government should be congratulated for its actions in commemorating the 150th anniversary of this significant event. It has taken some time for the struggle of Eureka to receive pride of place in our history. It was not until the 1970s that the community of Ballarat itself embraced the tradition, though memorials had been conducted since the rebellion itself.
The Eureka flag has long since been a symbol of contention, used throughout the last 150 years as a symbol of rebellion across the political spectrum. The way in which we understand the event and its historical significance is itself an issue of fiery debate. Yet there have been few instances in our collective history that have sparked such vigour and passion, heralded by some and condemned by others.
It is here that we understand the significance of commemorating what was undeniably an important event. It has been said that Australians have always interpreted Eureka in the context of their own time in history. The story of the stockade has been a living history. Recognising that, and the debate that surrounds the story of Eureka, is the true value in its commemoration. Eureka sparks the fire of debate about the foundations and the process of our democracy.
The commemoration of the Eureka rebellion is a celebration of our democracy and recognition of the fact that democracy is about engaging and debating the process of change. The significance of the Eureka rebellion and the symbolism of the flag have been recognised nationally this year by state parliaments and local government municipalities.
The ACT government has led the way in positioning the Eureka flat atop City Hill. That could be interpreted as a symbol of defiance, but then it is the spirit that calls most loudly from the goldfields of Ballarat where, 150 years ago, the miners were taxed for their labour by a colonial administration that enforced its laws with a standing army.
The miners had no political rights and, despite being equal under law, had no voice in the making of those laws. Their movement was informed by a wide variety of political experiences that landed with the mass immigration spurred on by the discovery of gold. Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe referred to this pattern of unrestricted immigration as the cause of the build-up of frustrations: “the politically restless and disappointed elsewhere … whose interests must be promoted by social and internal disorder”.
The charter of the miners of Ballarat heralded the arrival in Australia and was informed by the experiences of the British Chartists, and their interests were not the radical proposition suggested by the head of the colonial administration. Every citizen has an inalienable right to have a voice in making the laws he or she is called on to obey. The people are the only source of legitimate political power—basic tenets, it seems, of modern democracy. That is why we should celebrate and commemorate the events of Eureka.
Whilst the ideals seem none too radical now, in 1854 they were exactly that. The “interests” referred to by Governor La Trobe were the interests of working people in having a voice in the laws that determined their lives, irrespective of peerage or property ownership, and the social and internal disorder was about demanding a democratic voice,
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