The story of this place
At 3 AM on 3 December 1854, 276 soldiers and police attacked a stockade built by gold miners on the Ballarat goldfields who were protesting unjust mining licences and lack of political representation. In 15 minutes, at least 27 miners and 6 soldiers lay dead. The government expected to crush a rebellion. Instead it created martyrs. The Eureka flag — a white Southern Cross on deep blue — became the most potent symbol of Australian democratic rebellion.
Within months, all charges against the surviving miners were dropped by sympathetic juries. The government abolished the hated licence fees. The miners got the vote. Peter Lalor, the Irish rebel commander who lost his arm in the battle, later became Speaker of the Victorian Parliament. The Eureka Stockade is often called Australia's only revolution — a moment when working people with guns and flags forced an empire to back down.