Eureka Stockade commemorated at Ballarat Dawn Service
About 40 people, including trade unionists and refugees, gathered before dawn at Ballarat for the 167th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade.
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The Southern Cross loomed brightly above the men and women gathering at Ballarat’s Eureka Stockade Memorial Park before dawn on Friday.
Some clutched hot cups of coffee in the dark, greeting others before the service began.
Three-dozen people stood together, lit by a small fire for warmth and circled by posts graved with the names of the fallen men of 1854.
In the crowd were trade unionists, representatives from the West Papuan independence movement, and workers of various stripes, many from Melbourne, Bendigo, and Ballarat itself.
Those who wished to do so introduced themselves and spoke about their reasons for marking the 167th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade.
Dr Joseph Toscano from Reclaim the Radical Spirit of the Eureka Rebellion, and his late wife, decided to hold the first ceremony after coming to town in 2001 and realising no official ceremony was held on December 3.
Leading Friday’s meeting, he told attendees the Eureka flag represented internationalism, direct democracy, and solidarity.
“Why the Southern Cross?” Dr Toscano asked.
“Remember, 90 per cent of these people were born overseas. They’d come here to find a new life free of the class division and oppression.
“When they’d look up in the stars and they saw the Southern Cross, which is over there, they would know they were on a new land with a new future, which they wanted to fashion for themselves.”
Former political prisoner and refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Clovis Mwamba, drew a link between his country and his family’s experiences and those of Australia and the Ballarat miners of 1854.
“It’s really a learning experience,” he said. “Also it’s related to the life of my father.
“During colonial time in the Congo, my father was quite young working for a big, huge, mining company.
“They organised a protest during the Second World War ... people didn’t get enough money so it was practically a slave job.
“They invited them to a big stadium in the capital city. People were killed and my father was almost 20 and got out and [became] free.
“When I was born, he told me his story. This story helps Congolese to keep on fighting for our own independence.
“I feel like I have to cry because I remember the way my father escaped from being killed and it was the same history.”
Another former political prisoner, Jacob Rumbiak, a member of the transitional government of West Papua, said the anniversary of the Eureka Stockade was important to his country as it reflected a philosophy shared by activists in his country.
“This event has given me extra power and spirit that when in the darkness I call,” he said.
“Nobody can take the freedom or dignity or sovereignty of each person. I believe that this event is also teaching me to keep my generation strong.
“In New Guinea our ancestors come from Africa. Some of our freedom fighters here, they are from Africa. We’re proud that we come here to support them.
“They want to create a better place so the next generation can enjoy [greater] peace and justice and [a] better place from generation to generation. I think maybe this is the [most] important meaning [of Eureka] to me.”
A man known to some of the crowd, but from whom those people explicitly severed any association or endorsement, burned an effigy of premier Daniel Andrews nearby as a symbol of citizens’ power over their governments.
No more than two others followed him to watch the ignition, not counting journalists taking videos or photos.
Usually the Eureka Day celebrations occur continuously over an entire day, but because of Covid, several separate events were planned this year; a medal presentation at Bakery Hill, a visit to the Ballarat Old Cemetery, and a late lunch were to follow the dawn ceremony and communal breakfast.
Dr Toscano hoped that in the next few years the Trades Halls would become more involved in the dawn ceremony and help it grow further.
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