White nationalism and the Eureka Rebellion explained

White nationalists in Australia recall the Eureka Rebellion and the eventual implementation of Victoria's Chinese poll tax in 1855 as a milestone in the formation of the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act that enshrined the White Australia Policy of the 20th century. The Eureka Flag is often featured on bumper stickers with white nationalist political slogans, and the Australia First Party has incorporated it into their official logo. Many, including Peter Fitzsimons, have criticised such use by "those who ludicrously brandish it as a symbol of white Australia". However, the Lambing Flat banner that features the Southern Cross superimposed over a Saint Andrew's cross with the inscription "ROLL UP. ROLL UP. NO CHINESE". It has been claimed that the banner, which served as an advertisement for a public meeting held prior to the Lambing Flat riots, was inspired by the Eureka Flag. Nationalists have also maintained an oral tradition where the Eureka Flag was seen again on display outside NSW parliament house in 1878 at a protest brought about by the use of Chinese labour on ships at Circular Quay. Another flag similar to the Eureka Flag was seen prominently flown over a camp during the 1894 Australian shearers' strike at Barcaldine, Queensland.

Victorian colonial attitudes towards the Chinese

Numerous authors have mentioned the antipathy of the European miners towards the presence of Asiatics on the goldfields, including Russel Ward, who has noted: "The Chinese ... were conspicuous by their absence at Eureka".

Marjorie Barnard, in her short history of Australia, says that the trouble began in 1853 when the Chinese began to arrive, many of whom "were coolies sent by their masters at a low wage to mine in Australia. All the gold they won went out of the country. Their industry, their frugal habit of life, their unwillingness to take any part in the community, all offended the diggers. They accused them of immortality, of wasting water, of making no contribution to the common weal".

C.N. Connelly has observed that "While the Chinese remained almost as rare as Maoris and Negroes, they had little trouble. When they began to assemble in large groups... attitudes changed".

Weston Bate stated that:

In his local history of Ballarat William Withers has stated: "The Chinese were detested as an inferior race, as the harbingers of degrading pagan immorality, and as alien competitors for the bread which the miners required for themselves and families."

Commission of Inquiry report and the Chinese poll tax

In the aftermath of the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, the final report of the Victorian Goldfields Commission was presented to Lieutenant Governor Charles Hotham on 27 March 1855. Concerning the tensions caused by the presence of Chinese miners on the goldfields, the report states inter alia:

The legislative remedy came in the form of a poll tax, assented to on 12 June 1855, made payable by Chinese immigrants.[1]

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. 1855 . Victoria . An Act to make provision for certain Immigrants 1855 .