Editing Eureka Rebellion (section)

== Political legacy ==
The actual political significance of the Eureka Rebellion is contested. It has been variously interpreted as a revolt of free men against imperial tyranny, of independent free enterprise against burdensome taxation, of labour against a privileged ruling class, or as an expression of [[Republicanism in Australia|republicanism]]. Some historians believe that the prominence of the event in the public record has come about because Australian history does not include a major armed rebellion phase equivalent to the [[French Revolution]], the [[English Civil War]], or the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]], making the Eureka story inflated well beyond its real importance. Others maintain that Eureka was a seminal event and that it marked a major change in the course of Australian history.<ref name ="lateline"/>

In modern times, there have been calls for the official [[Flag of Australia|Australian national flag]] to be replaced by the Eureka Flag.<ref>{{cite news |title=Eureka? An answer to that Jack in the corner gets a little bit warmer |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/eureka-an-answer-to-that-jack-in-the-corner-gets-a-little-bit-warmer-20110125-1a4be.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108012145/http://www.smh.com.au/national/eureka-an-answer-to-that-jack-in-the-corner-gets-a-little-bit-warmer-20110125-1a4be.html |archive-date=8 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Eminent Australians rally around as call goes out for a new flag |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/eminent-australians-rally-around-as-call-goes-out-for-a-new-flag-20110125-1a4b5.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115094919/http://www.smh.com.au/national/eminent-australians-rally-around-as-call-goes-out-for-a-new-flag-20110125-1a4b5.html |archive-date=15 January 2012}}</ref>

In his eyewitness account, Carboni stated that "amongst the foreigners ... there was no democratic feeling, but merely a spirit of resistance to the licence fee". He also disputes the accusations "that have branded the miners of Ballarat as disloyal to their QUEEN".{{sfn|Carboni|1855|pp=108, 153}}

American author [[Mark Twain]], who journeyed to Ballarat, noted how the Eureka Rebellion was well remembered by locals, likening it to the battles of [[Battle of Concord|Concord]] and [[Battle of Lexington]] in his 1897 travel book ''[[Following the Equator]]''. Concerning the legacy of the battle, he stated: {{blockquote|I think it may be called the finest thing in Australasian history. It was a revolution - small in size; but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for a principle, a stand against injustice and oppression.... It is another instance of a victory won by a lost battle.{{sfn|Twain|1925|loc=chpt. XXIV}} }}

[[H. V. Evatt]], leader of the ALP, wrote that "Australian democracy was born at Eureka". Liberal Prime Minister [[Robert Menzies]] said, "the Eureka revolution was an earnest attempt at democratic government". [[Ben Chifley]], former ALP Prime Minister, believed the Eureka Rebellion was not just a "short-lived revolt against tyrannical authority" and expressed the view that it was consequential in terms of Australia's development as a nation in that "it was the first real affirmation of our determination to be masters of our own political destiny".{{sfn|Historical Studies: Eureka Supplement|1965|pp=125–126}}

Blainey has described Evatt's view as "slightly inflammatory"<ref name ="lateline"/> for such reasons as the [[1851 South Australian colonial election|first parliamentary elections in Australian history]] actually took place in South Australia, albeit according to a more limited property-based franchise, observing that it had been a battle cry for nationalists, republicans, liberals, radicals, and communists with "each creed finding in the rebellion the lessons they liked to see". He acknowledged that the inaugural parliament that convened under Victoria's revised constitution "was alert to the democratic spirit of the goldfields". The parliament eventually passed laws that enabled all adult males to vote by [[secret ballot]] and contest Legislative Assembly elections.{{sfn|Blainey|1963|pp=56–57}}{{refn|group=note|Victoria became the first jurisdiction in the world to adopt the secret ballot in place of [[Open ballot system|open voting]] upon commencement of the ''Electoral Act'' in 1856. South Australia enacted similar legislation a fortnight later.<ref>{{cite act |date=1855 |legislature=South Australia |title=Electoral Act (No 10 of 19 Vic, 1855-6)}}</ref> The colony's electoral commissioner, [[William Boothby]], is recognised as the pioneer of the secret ballot, also known as "the Australian ballot" when it was first introduced in the United States. At the same time, South Australia became the first colony to legislate for full adult male suffrage. Although Victoria's Legislative Assembly was no longer subject to any property qualifications from 1857, they remained for the Legislative Council in terms of membership and eligibility to vote until 1950.<ref>{{cite act |date=1950 |legislature=Victoria |title=Legislative Council Reform Act}}</ref> Other demands made by franchise activists on the goldfields that were subsequently made law in Victoria include regular elections every three years in 1859 and payment for members of parliament in 1870.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-84.html |title=Electoral Act 1856 (Vic) |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy |access-date=7 June 2022}}</ref>}} He points out that many miners were temporary migrants from Britain and the United States who did not intend to settle permanently in Australia, saying:

{{blockquote|Nowadays it is common to see the noble Eureka Flag and the rebellion of 1854 as the symbol of Australian independence, of freedom from foreign domination; but many saw the rebellion in 1854 as an uprising by outsiders who were exploiting the country's resources and refusing to pay their fair share of taxes. So we make history do its handsprings.{{sfn|Blainey|1983|p=158}} }}

In 1999, the Premier of New South Wales, [[Bob Carr]], dismissed the Eureka Stockade as a "protest without consequence".<ref>{{Cite episode |title=The Eureka rebellion |series=7:30 report |network=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=14 December 1999 }}</ref> Deputy Prime Minister [[John Anderson (Australian politician)|John Anderson]] made the Eureka Flag a federal election campaign issue in 2004 saying "I think people have tried to make too much of the Eureka Stockade ... trying to give it a credibility and standing that it probably doesn't enjoy".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/vic/ballarat/200409/s1196347.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515232608/http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/vic/ballarat/200409/s1196347.htm |archive-date=15 May 2010 |title=Anderson flags Eureka debate |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=10 September 2004}}</ref> In the opening address of the Eureka 150 Democracy Conference in 2004, the Premier of Victoria, Steve Bracks, said "that Eureka was about the struggle for basic democratic rights. It was not about a riot—it was about rights".<ref>{{cite speech |title=Opening address to Eureka 150 Democracy Conference |author-link=Steve Bracks |date=26 November 2004 |event=2004 Democracy Conference |location=University of Ballarat |last=Bracks |first=Steve}}</ref>