Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House recognises:

(1) the importance of the events that took place on 3 December 1854 on Eureka Hill at Ballarat;

(2) the significance of these events in Australia's history;

(3) the impact of Eureka on our discussions surrounding free market, individual enterprise and representative democracy; and

(4) that Australians have interpreted the events in numerous ways that impact and inspire our economic and social frameworks.

I do thank you for being in the House today, Mr Speaker, for a very important motion. I rise to speak on the importance of the Eureka Stockade—a significant moment in time that unfolded in the space of just 15 minutes in the early morning of 3 December 1854 on Eureka hill at Ballarat. It was 15 minutes that became legendary in Australian history. In those 15 minutes, what unfolded was a grassroots community revolt—a protest—against government policies that were holding back the development of the free market, individual enterprise and representative democracy. These principles that I, as a Liberal, hold dear are ones that it is clear the events of 161 years ago sought to establish.

Democracy, by its very nature, is not something that can be owned by either the Left or the Right. It is owned by the people of a nation. Yet, unfortunately, there have been attempts by various political and ideological movements over the past 161 years to redefine and mythologise this significant historical event. There have been efforts to force it to align to various political agendas, tying it to the same proverbial tree that the Victorian police chained those diggers who were found to be without a mining licence in those months leading up to the Eureka Stockade—so much so, that today the Eureka legend has largely been captured by those on the Left of politics, who seem to be very good at mythology but not so good at celebrating reforms of free market enterprise, small government and capitalism. These are very principles fought for by the diggers and on which the success of Australia is based today.

I am pleased to be able to present an alternative view—one born from our great former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, who said, in 1946, that if the Eureka Stockade meant anything at all it indicated a 'fierce desire to achieve true parliamentary government' and, through it, 'true popular control of the public finances.' So, far from being some sort of triumph of the collective over the establishment, the story of Eureka is a story of a revolt against excessive taxation and overregulation. It was an uprising against an aggressive mining levy by hardworking entrepreneurs and individuals in search of financial opportunity to create a better tomorrow for themselves and their families than what they enjoyed at that time. For, as history tells us, many diggers would take the money they made from the goldfields to start a farm, a new business or, perhaps, to purchase a home for themselves and their family. Their stand on Eureka hill was a fight for opportunity and a better standard of living.

The gold rush, while creating opportunities, also created a headache for Australia's squatters and businessmen, who found themselves short of labourers and workers. This was why the hefty mining licence fee, and the excessive regulatory burden of compliance that went with it, was such a clear example of a government more interested in framing policies to engineer a social and economic outcome than enabling enterprise and free market to continue to shape Australia. Some of the historical accounts I have read—stories of twice-weekly paper checks with fines, if the paper on which the miner's licence was printed was found to be damaged in any sort of way—simply smack of overregulation. These were excessive burdens which our Eureka men so rightly opposed.

But it was the impact of Eureka that ultimately frames this issue and outlines why today's conservative political parties can rightly claim the Eureka Stockade as much their own as those on the Left do so willingly and so well. As a result of Eureka, we saw taxation reform, less regulation, greater democratic participation and the election of the leader of the Eureka Stockade, Peter Lalor, to the Victorian parliament just a year later. He was later to become Speaker. As the ultimate sign of the impact of the Eureka Stockade in Australia's economic and social history, there remains a thriving tourism industry in that place.

This event became etched in the psyche of Australia, capturing in a few short moments our history, our values our identity and helping frame our future too. They were 15 minutes which ultimately defined a generation and captured our nation's imagination and identity. Eureka belongs to all of us. We cannot change history but we can and must, at least for the sake of the men and women of Eureka, change the interpretation of the Eureka flag as a symbol of representative democracy. Perhaps today we should have a discussion about whether, come the next major event here in Canberra, the Eureka flag should be flown in an appropriate way.

I commend the motion to the House.

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