WALKABOUT IN OZ
Eureka! And all that
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It is felt that Australian democracy was born at Eureka, says S. MUTHIAH, in the conclusion of his six-part series on life Down Under.
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PARVATHI-RAMA
Sydney's ANZAC Bridge, which recalls the heroes Australia best remembers, is a structure more striking than the Harbour Bridge.
ARCHIMEDES may have heralded his discovery with cries of "Eureka!", but the Australian "Eureka" was as much a signalling of the 19th Century gold strike near Ballarat in Victoria as the tragic tale of the `Battle of the Eureka Stockade' that Australians have in recent decades debated hotly every time the anniversary comes around on December 3. Today, Eureka has been taken over as much by those wishing Australia to declare itself a republic as by hard core left-wing unions and right-wing Nationalist ultras. But over the years, the Eureka uprising has never been far from the consciousness of the Australian leadership which has never been quite sure of how the 1854 tragedy should be integrated with the country's psyche.
Eureka is about Australian values
H.V. Evatt claimed that "Australian democracy was born at Eureka". Robert Menzies felt the "revolt" was an "earnest attempt at democratic government". Mark Twain offered an American view when he described what happened as "the finest thing in Australian history — a struggle against injustice and oppression". In fact, various commentators have compared it with the Boston Tea Party when the American colonists demonstrated against "taxation without representation" and sowed the seeds for the War of American Independence. Today, the supporters of the Southern Cross — the flag raised over Eureka, a white cross with a star at each extremity and one in the centre, all against a blue background — urge that it is Eureka that should be remembered more than Gallipoli which is commemorated as ANZAC Day annually. Gallipoli had little to do with independence and democracy, whereas Eureka was all about "those distinctly Australian values — egalitarianism, mateship, fairness — together with democracy, freedom, republicanism and multiculturalism," according to Macgregor Duncan et al, authors of Imagining Australia: Ideas for Our Future.
Eureka was in many ways Australia's "Sepoy Revolt" or "Jallianwalla Bagh". A defeat in 15 minutes crushed the protest. In that brief period as dawn broke on the Sabbath, 30 diggers and five soldiers were killed — and the pocket-sized revolution was over, the stockade over-run by 400 heavily armed soldiers and policemen, and scores of miners arrested, including their leader, Peter Lalor, an Irish engineer.
The first gold strikes were in 1851. With them began the miners' unhappiness. They were asked to pay exorbitant licence fees, whether or not they found gold. Harassed by the police, hunted down by tax-collectors, given no facilities, and corrupt officialdom, all only created a situation waiting to explode. Particularly as the diggers, many of them well-educated but bitten by the gold bug, had no representation in government. The first spark was lit when a drunken miner, James Scobie was assaulted in the Eureka Hotel and died on the street. The pub-owner, James Bentley, was arrested for the murder but set free by the magistrate. When 8,000 miners protested, then torched the hotel, Bentley was re-arrested together with three accused of leading the arsonists. As the law took its course, the situation in the streets got uglier and soldiers were brought in to supplement the growing numbers of police.
The birth of republicanism
Amidst rising tempers and violence, republicanism was born in Australia on November 11, 1854, when the Ballarat Reform League was formed. Lalor was on November 30 elected its leader, the Southern Cross was raised and the miners swore allegiance to the new flag and to "defending their rights and liberties". They then began fencing an acre near the ashes of the hotel with wooden slabs and carts, creating a barrier four feet high all around. Into this moved a few hundred miners and their families, together with a stockpile of weapons. On Saturday night, many of them hit the town for the traditional night out. Thus, there were only around 150 miners in the laager, mainly Irish but also from 18 other nations, when Government forces stormed the bastion. Between bullet and bayonet, the battle was over quickly, but over the next year the diggers won the war. Juries refused to convict the 114 arrested, a Royal Commission condemned the administration, and the grievances of the miners were alleviated, even political representation being granted. Lalor, their first MP, later became a Minister.
While Prime Minister John Howard may have kept himself aloof from the 150th anniversary celebrations, and many middle road Australians may see Eureka as having been taken over by ultras of all hues, there are also others hoping for the day when the Southern Cross will fly over Australia and the citizenship oath becomes something like: "We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and to defend our rights and liberties."
Around the time of the latest Eureka celebrations and the heated discussions over them, there were two other issues being debated. And both were not far removed from some of the basic issues Eureka raises. One was law and order, the other the return of, if they may be termed such, Non-Resident Australians ...
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Police highhandedness
YOU hardly see the Police in cities and villages. But they are there — the pursuit cars just waiting to take off at high-speed after offenders, whose worst crime might be breaking the speed limit or running a red light. In the past decade, 54 persons have been killed in New South Wales in crashes during such 180 kmph police chases, numerous others injured. "Pursuits are madness, the danger to the lives of those pursued or bystanders disproportionate to most of the offences that trigger the chases. Young police officers get into pursuits because it is such an adrenaline boost," a retired police officer wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald. The public appear to want a ban on pursuit, but the police counter that a ban will lead to many asked to pull over making a break for it. The debate is just one more in a series on police high-handedness, particularly when dealing with the aboriginal people. Aboriginal leaders accuse the police of a brutality that is less apparent when dealing with other Australians, even those involved with major crime. The gangs, others say, are not countered with the same toughness as much lesser crimes. It's the same old story round the world, one the police seldom star in, but in Australia there seems to be much more of a focus on the macho-attitudes of the Police, a focus that could well date to Eureka.
The diaspora
The other issue in the headlines was the Australian diaspora. There are almost a million Australians working all over the world, many in high profile jobs. A prosperous, well-educated group like the creamy layer of Indian Non-Residents, they have been described as the "gold-collar workers". It is a group that has benefited from an excellent education system that at University level is more rigorous than systems I've known elsewhere. Its members left Australia not because they didn't like it, but because of greater, and more challenging, job opportunities abroad. Their Australian identity remains strong, they keep up with the cricket and "footie" scores, they still guzzle beer and yearn for the outdoors.
A question asked, however, is how much do these Australians overseas contribute to Australia. In fact, many question their "Australia ness". But there are also calls to involve the Non-Resident Australian in the mainstream of national life. Many an expatriate, however, complains of not being able to fit into the Australian system. When an Australian at the top overseas after 20 years abroad is asked "What is your work experience in Australia? Do you have contacts here? Do you know how we get things done?", the questions are not only difficult to answer but a feeling of "us" and "them" is created. Both Australian students of the subject and returnees confirm that repatriates do find life difficult in Australia when they return. It takes some getting used to, they say — and many don't have the patience to go through that re-learning period. But why should things be made different for them, some of those who've stayed back stridently ask.
On the other hand, urging stay-at-homes not to think of Australian expatriates as a "brain drain" or "opportunities", there is now wide advocacy that they should be considered a "brain gain". A University of South Australia study of the diaspora by Prof. Phyllis Tharenou advises that their experience be made use of by "a small economy like Australia to internationalise". It is a debate that will become louder as Australia grows and opens up more ...
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The strain will show
AUSTRALIA's growth really began only in the last 30 years or so, and its problems sound remarkably like ours. Drought — and locust swarms — threaten fertile land. Power shortages are predicted in the next five years. A passenger overload and militant unionism has urban public transport stressed. And an excellent healthcare system has begun to feel the heat. Highlighting the pressures on medicare, where 100 per cent bed occupancy is creating long waits, was the case of Isaac Messiha whose life support system was switched off by doctors in Sydney hospital where he had been for over a month. His family claimed the doctors' action was because of the need to free a bed in intensive care. Whether that was the reason or not, it highlighted the strain Australian hospitals are under. Surgeons, midwives, nurses are all in short supply. Proud of its exceptional professional education, the Australian Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons refuse to relax their norms for emigrants. No wonder many active Asian doctors with 20-plus years of service — and finding it difficult to study at their age — have had to opt for clerical work in hospitals. Nurses and midwives are in even greater short supply. We'll search the world to recruit nurses, says the New South Wales Health Minister. He's also been encouraging retired nurses to return to the profession and asking mothers with older children to take to nursing or midwifery.
The issue of consumerism
And one last Australian concern before I cry halt. Consumerism, which is worrying many. A church in Melbourne had shortly before Christmas put up a huge sign: "Beat the Christmas rush and pray today". The church remained virtually empty. Round the corner, the giant Myers' department store had a fabulous six-window audio-visual presentation of a boy catching the Polar Express to meet Santa Claus. And a newspaper headline cried, "How Santa put his claws into Jesus". Meanwhile, Brisbane's "Gold Coast" was being over-run with "schoolies" in an annual ritual that's been growing bigger every year as thousands of teenagers, celebrating school-leaving over a long, wild week, find more and more facilities, from lodging to entertainment and more, being offered in this surfers' paradise. Commercialisation here has become so great that a bid was recently made to the Queensland Government to brand "Schoolies Week". Indeed, whether it's Christmas or a teenage rites-of-passage, it's all about shopping and entertainment and all else that goes with both. These are concerns even in Australian Fair.
(Concluded)
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