We had men and women and children, 25, 000 here in Ballarat from all corners of the world Many victims of political persecution, British charters, political refugees from the failed revolutions in Ireland in 1848 and the rest of Europe who gathered here trying to find their fortune. Hey, it's Chris. As you can tell by that accent, we're going abroad for this week show, which comes to us from stick together. Australia's only national radio show focusing on industrial social and workplace issues.
Australia's history, closely tracks, American history. The subjugation of a Indigenous people is the most obvious parallel. And the battles for basic worker rights is another. On today's show the battle of the Eureka stockade. The first major event. Of post-colonial Australia where an 1854 during the Victorian gold rush, the army and police violently attacked miners, killing dozens for daring to call for the end of mining licenses and universal suffrage. And on labor history in two.
the year was 1932. A very unusual army marched on Washington, D. C. Pro labor Catholic priest, Father James Renshaw Cox, led the march. I'm Chris Garlock. And this is labor history today. G'day, Annie McLaughlin here for this week's edition of Stick Together, the only national program focusing on union news, workers stories and social justice issues. This program is produced in Melbourne for 3CR and broadcast on the Community Radio Network with the support of the Community Radio Foundation.
I'm the Stolen Lands of the Kulin Nation and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. As we put 2024 to bed, With its defining moment of Federal Labor's legislation placing the CFMEU Construction and General Division into administration, it is worth considering the bedrock of workers struggle in this country, the first major event of post colonial Australia. Eureka Stockade.
We go to the pre dawn Reclaim the Radical Spirit of Eureka event held in Ballarat on December the 3rd on the site of the original stockade where in 1854 the army and police attacked miners for daring to call for the end of mining licenses. and universal suffrage. Dr. Joe Toscana, convener of Reclaim the Radical Spirit of Eureka, will set the scene and political context of the Eureka Rebellion. Brett Edgerton, secretary of the Ballarat Trades Hall Council.
Outlines why Eureka remains the defining moment that colours workers struggles to the present day. We end with some, perhaps little known details of that fateful day on the 3rd of December, 1854, which as one of the people speaking at the commemoration pointed out, the Victorian police have still failed to recognise there. unforgivable role in the subsequent massacre, nor made public apology. You're listening to Stick Together, workers stories and union news. No, it's a war on the worker.
War on the worker. No, it's a war on the worker. War on the worker. Broadcast around the country every week on the Community Radio Network. What's Eureka? To me, Eureka is encapsulated in the oaf. Eureka! And our 29th of November, 1854, about 500 diggers after the monster meeting gathered round the Eureka flag, which was flown for the first time that day. And they swore this oath. We swear by the Southern cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties.
Now, this is an extraordinary oath. Many people claim the Eureka flag, but few understand the meaning of the oath. It was we. We had men and women and children, 25, 000 here in Ballarat from all corners of the world Many victims of political persecution, British, British charters, political refugees from the failed revolutions in Ireland in 1848 and the rest of Europe who gathered here trying to find their fortune.
They gathered here on this, at Bakery Hill, and they decided after the meeting to come here and set up a stockade at this site. There's been a lot of Um, investigation where the site was now this monument behind us was established in 1884 by the Victorian government to mark the 30th anniversary of the Eureka Rebellion and, uh, uh, diggers who'd survive selected this spot as the spot, the site of the stockade. So we are standing on hallowed ground.
As I speak, Think of a stockade about an acre in size. Although 2, 000 men had drilled with their arms on the second, the Saturday, there are only 104 in the stockade site on the third of December because they never believed that the state would attack them on God's day, Sunday. So just remember that you're on this ground. This is where the battle occurred. And we'll, I'll speak about that soon. So, we, that's everybody, people of all colours, all races, all religions, all nationalities, we.
We swear by the Southern Cross. A lot of people take this as a religious symbol. The fact is, although you can't see it today because of the cloud, you can only see two things, two constellations in the sky in the Southern Hemisphere that you can't see in the Northern Hemisphere. One is the Southern Cross, and one is the Northern Hemisphere. Morningstar, the symbol of the West Papuan Independence Movement. They're the two things.
So you can imagine, you've got a tent city of about 25, 000 people. You haven't got, you know, the digital world, television, mobile phones, computers at hand. But when you looked up in the sky from your tent, when you're trying to sleep, you could see the Southern cross as a symbol. And they saw this as a symbol of creating a new world free. of the persecutions and the class divisions of the old. So we swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other.
Anybody here involved in a trade union or a radical organization knows that solidarity is the essence of success. As we say with the, uh, Woolworths store workers who are currently on strike, it's about. solidarity. So we swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties. These men and women believed they were born with inalienable rights, which nobody could take away. That was their ultimate belief.
So in my opinion, the four symbols, the four pillars of radicalism of the radical spirit, the Eureka Rebellion, uh, internationalism, we are all have a common oppressor, irrespective. Of our religious beliefs, the color of our skin, our gender, our sexual orientation. And people seem to have forgotten that in 2024. Direct action. Taking up arms to defend what you believe are your rights and liberties. You can't be more direct than that. Direct action. Then we've got solidarity.
And last but not least, we've got direct democracy. And I'd just like to look at this just for a minute. Because, you know, we think we live in a democracy. Every three to four years we cast a ballot to elect representatives to make decisions for us for the next three to four years.
Now remember this was a period before PA and you had monster meetings here in Ballarat of 15 to 20, 000 people who came together, made decisions, elected delegates, send the delegates to Melbourne to, um, you know, work with the, try to come to a solution to the problem with the government regarding the licenses. And then the delegates would come back and report to the next mass meeting.
So this is something, this is a type of democracy, which is familiar to many union activists and many union members, but it's the type of democracy that's being forgotten. So it's internationalism, direct action, internationalism, direct action. Solidarity and direct democracy. I, I believe are the pillars of Eureka.
Now I could stand here and talk for 24 hours about Eureka, but I'm not going to, but I'll tell you one little funny story because, you know, there's always a little bit of a little bit of a humor. Why the Eureka flag? Why the Southern Cross? Well, when the Ballarat Reform League was formed on the 11th of November, 1854, they needed a symbol. If you, any of you lived in a big tent city. You really need to know where the bakery is, where the, uh, the grocery store is.
And most businesses at that time, and government agencies at that time, had flags to denote who they were. So the members of the Ballarat Reform League were debating what symbol they should, uh, have for their movement.
And the story goes, whether it's true or not, it's a good story, That one of the delegates went out to relieve himself in the night sky, saw the Southern Cross in the sky, realized its significance, and rushed back, and the Southern Cross was adopted as the symbol of the Eureka rebels. So, just a little history, because it reminded me of something, of why there were licenses. And what Peter said reminded me of that.
When the, when Victoria was first, uh, invaded in 1835, it was the same time as the Industrial Revolution was occurring and the commons were being closed down in, uh, Britain. And the new industrial mills needed raw products. And a great raw product is wool, because you don't need to do anything with it except bale it and send it.
So what happened is, that within 20 years, 700 squatters had claimed all of Victoria and the Aboriginal population of over 100, 000 was reduced to about 2, 000 within that 20 year period between 1835 and the Eureka Rebellion. Now what happened is Victoria was declared an independent colony from, it was part of New South Wales in 1851 and a legislative council was established.
The Legislative Council only had squatters in it, and when gold was first discovered in 1851, they tried to hide the fact that it had been discovered because they relied on cheap convict or ex convict labor to look after their sheep and shear their sheep, and when gold was discovered, they were very concerned about the possibility They would lose their cheap labour who would flock to the gold fields to try and find their fortune.
So instead of introducing legislation to tax the gold that was wrought from the ground, they introduced legislation to tax the individual miner in the hope that they'd be able to retain their cheap labour and continue. their domination of the, uh, the landscape. So it was basically greed that created the license, which was the mechanism, which led basically to the rebellion here in Ballarat, the rebellions everywhere around Victoria. There was the Rushworth which nobody seems to know about.
But what I'm just saying is it was greed. The fact that they made a decision to protect their interests by introducing a gold license. For the individual minor, which was an extraordinary amount of. You're on Stick Together, worker stories, union news and social justice issues. We're at the pre dawn service, held on December the 3rd at the site of the Eureka Stockade, arguably the most significant worker struggle in post colonial Australian history.
Brett Edgerton, Secretary of the Ballarat Trades Hall, Council, took the mic. Uh, comrades, sisters and brothers, uh, I start by acknowledging More than 60, 000 years, a profound connection to the land on which we meet, uh, the Wadawurrung mob of the great Kulin nation. Uh, this land was stolen and was never ceded. I thought my theme for this morning would be those people who are ignorant of their history are doomed to repeat it. Australians are largely pretty blase about our democracy.
In the early 1900s, however, Australia was a powerhouse for democratic revolution and for new ideas. There were really ideas that were taken on by the rest of the world, um, concepts like the secret ballot. I mean, who knew that in the UK, uh, you know, the Lord or whoever was standing for Parliament would stand at the door, watch you go in, know exactly who you voted for. Of course, you're only a rich landowner if, uh, if you had the right to do that.
Here in Australia, we, uh, we seem to have abandoned this democratic tradition.
And not by, not by accident for many, many years, successive Australian governments have directed Australia's common ideology, our attention to, uh, the Anzac legend and our military prowess, um, of course, uh, a slaughter of Australian, uh, citizens, uh, in a bad blunder by the British and directed our attention away from the story of Eureka because for governments, really the idea that a group of normal average people Coming together could bring about revolutionary change is a pretty
terrifying idea for those in charge. And that really is, in a nutshell, what Eureka was about. So many historians and so many Australian stories sort of tell the story or the legend of Eureka as finishing. Um, with 37, well actually lots more, we probably know 60 or 80 dead, including women.
Um, Uh, on the morning of the 3rd of December, very few people tell the story of Eureka that continues after that, to this day, for the mighty Australian trade union movement, uh, it's very existence starts here on the gold fields for two reasons. One reason, because all of the young workers were up here. Uh, in the Golden Triangle, digging for gold in Victoria, while incredible wealth was heading down to Melbourne and Geelong. Uh, they were building libraries and houses of Parliament.
There was a huge labour shortage. Now, the 8 hour day wasn't a concept that started in Melbourne. Uh, it had been tried before in the US, in New Zealand, in Sydney, uh, and it always failed. But here in Victoria, the story of gold, uh, meant that because of the incredible labour shortage, but the incredible wealth flowing from the gold fields. that Melbourne stonemasons were able to win and sustain the eight hour day.
The other reason the Australian union movement starts here is because of what happens at Eureka. Um, the story of Eureka, of course, is, uh, like everything in history, uh, has precursors, has things that happened beforehand. So you go back to the 18 thirties in the UK.
Industrial Revolution, uh, agricultural laborers are moving into cities, working in factories, no social safety net, kids as young as five getting killed in factories, uh, you don't earn a wage that day, your family starves to death. So the Chartist movement started, that Dr. Joe mentioned. Uh, and the Chartists demanded some pretty, well, what, what these days we regard as pretty normal things, but in the days were pretty radical, uh, the right to vote.
Uh, the right for working people to stand for parliament. The fact that if you pay tax, you should have a say in the laws that govern, uh, you and your behavior. Uh, there's a secret ballot was another Chartist idea. In the 1830s, the Chartist demands in the UK were met with bullets, uh, and incredible violence. Here in Ballarat, uh, when the Ballarat Reform League Charter was, uh, formally and democratically adopted on the 11th of November, those Chartist ideals.
of the right to vote of working men standing for parliament get committed to paper here in Ballarat. Unfortunately, it ends up, uh, because of some pretty awful decisions by Ballarat goldfield authorities, uh, to increase license hunts and increase pressure on diggers, uh, ends up here behind a stockade on the morning of Sunday the 3rd. But those democratic traditions continue. J. B. Humphrey and the Reform League continue to petition.
And what happened after Eureka was that the people of Melbourne and Geelong were so appalled, so appalled that British authorities would attack and kill civilians here in Ballarat that the tide turned against the government. And the, and those ideas, those Chartist ideas get adopted. And end up in the Victorian, the new Victorian constitution, the new, um, colony of Victoria, but also spread up across, uh, Australia into New South Wales and Queensland and other states and end up there.
And of course, in federation in 1901, those fundamental principles of, you know, the right to vote, the right for working people to stand for parliament, short durations of parliament, the fact that landowners and landed gentry are not the only people that vote can vote. Um, of course, the franchise for women take, took a little bit more time, but in the 1830s, the original charters did put universal suffrage, um, as one of their core goals.
So it was an idea that, you know, back in that day, in those days were adopted. This profoundly shaped our democracy and created the Australian we know today. The whole concept of a weekend, the idea of kids playing football and netball on a, on a, on a Saturday morning, the idea that you can sleep in on Sunday. These are all ideas that come from the ADR movement, from the union movement, and from what happens here in Ballarat and on the goldfields.
And we should also point out, um, in Bendigo with the Red Ribbon Rebellion, all the precursors that happened to the, to the massacre that happens here on December the 3rd, the agitation on the goldfields. These are things these days that Australians, I think, largely take for granted. We need to reclaim Eureka and we need to tell the story about why we have these things. And we need to know why we have these things and that's really important because the one thing is they all can be taken away.
They can be taken away in an instant. If we forget about how we ended up with the democracy we do in Australia and the rights and privileges that we have because of sacrifice here at Eureka, uh, and the push by many after the agitation here, uh, to achieve those democratic rights and to write them down. Uh, into the Australian psyche, uh, and the constitutions of the of the colonies at the time, uh, and the Australian Federation. Uh, so that's my message today.
Um, go out from this place, um, educate Australians as to how they won their rights and privileges, how easy it is in an instant to lose them, and how Australians really need to embrace, uh, the story of Eureka. The winning of those rights, the sacrifice made by the men and women, uh, many have massacred here. Uh, at this site and on the gold fields in subsequent days under martial law. You're on Stick Together, worker stories, union news and social justice issues.
We're at the pre dawn service in Ballarat to revive the radical spirit of Eureka and to finish off, we go back to Dr. Joe Toscano, who gives us the vivid account of what happened on that faithful day in 1854 after the first assault on the miners stockade. Just to put a damper on all this happiness and spirit, um, it's daylight. By now, The soldiers and the police have actually overrun this stockade.
Half of the 30 pikemen who stood there with pikes, handmade pikes, which were designed to cut the bridle of these galloping horses, which were galloping towards them. Over 200 horses galloping towards them. Half of them lie dead. 15 of the 30 lie dead, riddled with musket balls. Edward Fonin, the owner of the pikeman's dog, to which there's a memorial, Up the, uh, at the Eureka Center, 13 musket ball in his body. As the daylight is lifting, there are tents burning.
There are women jumping over and children jumping over the stockade. And there were women laying themselves over the bodies of wounded miners, wounded diggers, to stop them being bayoneted to death. There's smoke, there's screaming, there's fire, there's death. There's people in extreme pain. That's the situation as daylight broke. And as I said before, the Eureka Massacre began then. For the next two to three hours, there was just pandemonium and chaos.
Children ran everywhere and the local Aboriginal groups, the Wafarong and the Dhaja Wurrung collected the children and kept them for the next 24 to 36 hours until their parents were able to. take them back. So a lot of people say Eureka was about male suffrage. It was about much, much, much more than that. It was about interaction between First Nations people and other people who were brutalized by colonization, the miners. It was about women trying to find a place in this new society.
It is as relevant today as it was 170 years ago. I'd like to congratulate you all coming. That's it for Stick Together this week. If you want to catch up with the program, the podcast is available at three cr org au or at your favorite podcast site. You can contact the producers of the show at Stick Together, three [email protected], or by ringing oh 3 9 4 1 9 8 3 7 7 and leaving us a message. My name's Annie McLaughlin. Remember, wherever you are, whatever you do, there is a union for you.
And until next time, stick together. We'll go out with David Rovick's anthem for Eureka. From every corner of the world, they came from all around. When in 1851, they struck gold upon the ground. Every voyage was a long one, months upon the stormy sea. Some to seek their fortune, others escaping slavery. What they found on the gold fields, was ruled by brutish thugs, discrimination and taxation mixed with swinging billy clubs. The gold was getting scarcer, and cops were getting worse.
The diggers burned their licenses and vowed to end this curse. They swore an oath beneath the southern cross. They'd stand together. And break the license laws. From twenty different nations they gathered here as one In Ballarat, beneath the southern sun. The crown tried to divide them, giving preference to one. The diggers wouldn't have it. They said it's all of us or none. They built a stockade while the redcoats massed nearby. And they heard the miners shouting, we're ready now to die.
The rebel miners waited. For whatever lay in store, And on one December morning, In 1854, The Redcoats attacked the camp. Dozens there would fall, Amongst these brave gold diggers, Who'd risen to the call, They swore an oath. Beneath the southern cross, they'd stand together and break the license laws. From twenty different nations, they gathered here as one in Ballarat beneath the southern sun. The army thought it was over. And things go their way.
But when 15, 000 miners rallied a month later on the day, The Crown conceded everything, all of their demands. They'd won an end to license fees, the right to vote and land. So here's to Joe and Charlie, Waller and the rest. They drew the battle lines and put Crown rule to the test. The diggers may have lost the battle, but they quickly won the day. And those shots fired in victor Word, 10,000 miles away. They swore an oath beneath the Southern cross.
They'd stand together and break the license laws from 20 different nations. They gathered here as one in Ballarat beneath the Southern Sun. They s Sonos. Beneath the Southern Cross, they'd stand together and break the license laws from 28 different nations. They gathered here as one in Ballarat beneath the Southern Sun. I'm Rick Smith, and this is Labor History in Two. On this day in labor history, the year was 1932.
A very unusual army marched on Washington, D. C. Pro labor Catholic priest, Father James Renshaw Cox, led the march. Father Cox had worked as a cab driver and steel worker before attending seminary and serving as a chaplain in World War I. After the war, as a pastor in Pittsburgh, he organized food assistance for those hit hard by the Great Depression. As the number of unemployed grew, Father Cox came up with a new plan to help the suffering in his city.
He organized Cox's army, 25, 000 Pennsylvanians who had lost their job due to the Great Depression. Cox led them from Pennsylvania to the nation's capital to demand a works program. Cox led them from Pennsylvania to the nation's capital to demand a public works program to put people back to work. The protest was the largest in Washington, D. C. up until that time. It was considered a great embarrassment to Republican President Herbert Hoover. For more UN videos visit www.
un. org Yet the president still did not move to provide government assistance. Such inaction helped to usher in the era of Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency, whose New Deal policies included public jobs programs. The protest also spawned a popular saying for women of that day.
According to the Associated Press, the men of Cox's army ate 2, 500 pounds of sauerkraut, 1, 500 pounds of hot dogs, 11, 000 apples, 650 gallons of soup, 450 loaves of bread, and 1, 600 dozen of donuts and rolls during the protest. When cooking dinner for their families, women might explain, I made just enough food to feed Cox's army. Labor History in Two, brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and the Rick Smith Show. For more information, go to laborhistoryin2.
com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on the Twitters at laborhistoryin2. And that's it for this week's edition of labor history today. You can subscribe to L H T on your favorite podcast app, even better if you like what you hear. And we hope you do, please like it in your podcast app, pass it along and leave a review that really helps folks to find the show. Labor history into is a partnership between the Illinois labor history society and the Rick Smith show.
Uh, labor theme, the radio show out of Pennsylvania. Various special. Thanks this week to our colleagues at stick together. Australia's only national radio show focusing on industrial social and workplace issues. Distributed nationally on the community radio network. It's a consistently interesting and well-produced program and we've got a link in the show notes.
Labor history today is produced by the labor heritage foundation and the Kalmanovitz initiative for labor and the working poor at Georgetown university. You can keep up with all the latest labor arts news. Subscribe to the labor heritage foundations, free weekly newsletter at labor heritage. Dot org for labor history today, this has been Chris Garlock. Thanks for listening. Keep making history. And we'll see you next time.