The Eureka Stockade is a symbol of Australians' unwillingness to bow to perceived injustice.
It is the place where miners of the Victorian goldfields sought to redress they wrongs they suffered at the hands of an unjust officialdom, particularly in regard to the issue of mining licences.
Here, in the Eureka Stockade in 1854, a handful of miners -- just about 150 of them, out of some 500 under the leadership of one Peter Lalor, and flying the Flag of the Southern Cross -- were attacked by superior government soldiers and vanquished. As many as 30 of the miners died.
Memories of the past
Today the place where Lalor and his men built the Eureka Stockade is a serene park with mementos -- and the memories -- of a short-lived rebellion.
Nearby is today's Eureka Centre which provides a national focus for what happened at the Eureka Stockade and its significance to the Australian people.
The Eureka Centre is located just south of the main route into Ballarat from Melbourne, on the corner of Eureka and Rodier Sts in East Ballarat.
Postscript to rebellion
It is to the credit of the government of the time that the injustices to the miners in the goldfields were recognised and the "rebels" later pardoned for their part in the rebellion.
Their leader, Peter Lalor, became a member of parliament.
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- (Photo courtesy of Tourism Victoria
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