Many significant events have occurred throughout history which have helped shape Australia to what we have become today. I believe three very influential events of our history, are the Gold Rush, Eureka Stockade and Federation.
The Gold Rush was an era remembered as an important part of Australia's history. The first discovery of gold was in New South Wales in 1851. Being the closest town to the diggings, Bathurst was filled with panic and anxiety. People were flooding the town from national and international places, and men of trades were giving up their professions and moving to the diggings. This same situation was repeated throughout Australia to form the Gold Rush.
With the Gold Rush came people came from all parts of the world. These people brought with them their cultures, ideas and experiences to build a bigger and better Australia. Victoria especially was enriched with new cultures, which lead to the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat 1854, three years after the first sign of gold in Australia. .
The Eureka Stockade was a gruesome battle between police and diggers. It was a battle fought because of the greediness of the police and government. To be able to dig at the diggings one had to possess a licence, which costs thirty shillings a month. This was a large amount of money that many diggers found difficult to pay. So, after a series of events they rebelled. Five hundred miners took an oath to fight for their rights, and they did. They erected a barricade and with the Southern Cross flag flying high, the battle began. The police mutilated the inexperienced diggers and in only twenty brutal minutes thirty-six diggers were dead.
This event carries such importance that the flag which the diggers fought under (the Southern Cross) is now a part of our national flag, which we have fought under and will fight under. Some say this was the beginning of democracy in Australia.
With the Eureka Stockade in mind, Australia needed to formalise the government to create a new fully democratic nation.
