Media Release

Australia's Goldrush History on Display

A unique display of one of the most important documents in Australia’s gold rush history will be launched by Mary Delahunty MP, Minister for the Arts, at the Bendigo Art Gallery next week.

The 1853 Bendigo Petition, which is almost 13 metres in length and bound in green silk, lists more than 5000 signatures and details the grievances of goldminers from the Bendigo area which culminated in the historic Eureka uprising. This is the first time the petition has been publicly displayed in Bendigo. The Petition will be on display at the Bendigo Art Gallery for a week from 1 – 8 September, and to complement the display, a series of free public events in Bendigo will be held.

The story of the gold rushes and their dramatic impact on Victoria is well known. The history of the Bendigo goldfields is an incredible story of dissent, diversity and democracy and the Petition is a foundation document for Australian democracy.

With the discovery of gold at Buninyong, near Ballarat in August 1851, the fledging colony of Victoria faced an economic and social boom never before experienced.  By mid-1853 there were about 60,000 diggers, plus their families, on the Victorian goldfields, of these about 23,000 were at Bendigo. In June 1853, an Anti-Gold-Licence Association was formed at Bendigo to give voice to the diggers’ many grievances about their conditions, in particular the 30 shillings monthly licence fee they had to pay.

The leaders of the Association drew up a petition which articulated the digger’s appeals and made a number of demands, including a reduced licence fee, improved law and order, the right to vote and the right to buy land. Diggers from Bendigo and surrounding areas signed the Petition. Although it was claimed that over 30,000 signatures were collected, the Petition carried about 5,000 to 6,000 signatures.

The Petition was taken to Melbourne and presented to Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe on 1 August 1853, but its demands were rejected. A series of protests ensued, mostly non-violent, and the diggers increasingly evaded payment of their licence fees. Eventually, their grievances erupted in the events at Ballarat which culminated in the Eureka uprising on 3 December 1854.

Mary Delahunty MP Minister for the Arts will open The 1853 Bendigo Petition display at 11 am on Wednesday 1 September, 2004 at the Bendigo Art Gallery, 42 View Street, Bendigo.