We pay tribute to Australia’s Indigenous people in recognition of their struggles since British colonization in 1788.
Our Vision:
The Spirit of Eureka Committee actively seeks to promote a vision and a pathway to a democratic and independent Australian republic which values all its citizens and is a fair and just society for all.
We support and promote this vision through activities, education, research and the recognition of significant contributions and achievements. We draw our inspiration from the fight for justice, democracy and a fair go for all that was born at the Eureka Stockade rebellion in 1854 which united more than 20 nationalities under the Eureka flag. The Eureka flag embodies the spirit of Australia’s multiculturalism. It has become a national symbol for all who fight for justice, unity, an egalitarian society and the vision of an independent and fair Australia. The Spirit of Eureka has adopted Eureka’s spirit and its flag as the inspiration for all its endeavours.
The Spirit of Eureka Committee will support causes that reflect and strive for the following:
1. Recognition that Indigenous Australians are the traditional carers/owners of this land, and recognition that reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is a vital and necessary goal. We support the Indigenous peoples’ strivings for community control of their affairs and a just Treaty with non- Indigenous Australia.
2. A democratic and independent Australian republic based on a constitution that values all citizens equally and protects our democratic rights and civil liberties, including the right to speak out and protest against oppression and injustice.
3. Equal treatment of all Australians under the law including access to legal representation, presumption of innocence, and protection against confinement without charge.
4. Commitment to Australia’s independent foreign policy and participation in co-operative international efforts to promote peace, security, prosperity and observance of human rights and labour standards through fair trading arrangements with others in our global community. 5. We support Australia’s withdrawal from the American Alliance, closing down foreign military bases and ceasing joint military exercises for wars of aggression. 6. A common right of access to decent, affordable housing, a system of free, quality public health care and a sy
stem of free, quality public education,
7. The right of all citizens to secure employment and to a standard of living which is both socially adequate and representative of a fair and equitable share of the nation’s wealth,
9. The right to work in workplaces which are safe, secure, healthy and free of harassment and in which workers have the right to be consulted and involved in making decisions about issues affecting their employment,
8. The right of all working people to join and be represented by a union, and to defend their well-being and advance their working conditions and living standards through organising, acting and bargaining collectively in unions which necessarily includes the right to collectively withdraw their labour,
10. The right of all working people to protection against unfair dismissal or unfair treatment by employers,
11. The right of workplace unions and their representatives to carry out their role without harassment, including the right to enter workplaces, recruit, organise and represent workers in the workplace,
12. The rights of workers and unions to take political and industrial action in support of social justice, peace, protection of the environment and solidarity with the struggles for justice in other countries
13. The right of all Australians to a secure and dignified retirement that ensures decent and comfortable living standards through the social security and taxation systems,
14. The right of working parents to have access to quality, free, publicly funded childcare,
15. The right to employment standards that enable working parents to manage both work and family commitments, and in particular, that working parents have the time and opportunity to form and maintain relationships with their children which foster the child’s development,
16. The acceptance by government that infrastructure such as education, health, public transport, energy, telecommunications, postal services, water and community services is vital to the collective well-being of all citizens and must be publicly owned and managed and acceptance that the efficiency of public services must be measured in terms of the quality of service provided as well as economic cost.
17. A genuinely multicultural Australia,
18. Opposition to discrimination in all forms including that based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual preferences or political beliefs.
19. That Australia should welcome and support refugees and asylum seekers fleeing wars, oppression and environmental disasters due to climate change. In 1854 the Eureka rebels declared “the Eureka flag as the refuge of all oppressed people from all countries on earth.”
20. Protection and promotion of a healthy and sustainable environment,
21. Taking action to reverse the devastating effects of global warming and implementing measures to repair and protect the environment. This includes forcing polluting businesses and corporations to pay for repairs to the environment,
22. Development of viable and self-reliant agricultural, manufacturing and transport industries, with emphasis on new, environmentally sustainable industries that will create jobs and encourage scientific development as well as protect the quality of the local and global environments,
23. Protect and develop Australia’s agricultural, manufacturing, cultural and services industries through Fair Trade Not Free Trade with other countries.
24. Recognition that governments must accept a central role in ensuring fairness, equality and opportunity across the community and encourage participatory democracy by the citizens.
March 2008
PS Thanks to Jim Sharp for sending this to BushTelegraph
Also, many of the Eureka rebels managed to forgive the colonial authorities and eagerly joined the British navy to fight in the Maori wars, showing that they were not at all opposed to imperialism.
and
I believe it is not quote honest to describe the rebellion as a good example of multiculturalism. While fortune seekers from around the globe did end up on the gold fields, the intense racism to, and persecution of, the Chinese was nothing to be proud of. There were no Chinese or Aboriginal people in this concept of multiculturalism.
The website on the logo doesn’t seem to work?
An interesting link…..
“Another Side of Eureka – the Aboriginal presence on the
Ballarat goldfields in 1854 – Were Aboriginal people
involved in the Eureka rebellion?”
http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/History/Bentley/2005-07.pdf
The nationalist war was raging in Victoria, including Ballarat at the time of the stockade. The native police who protected scabs and brutalised the rebels were not in the area primarily for the purpose of policing the miners. There job was to protect the white settlement from Aboriginal attack by way of systematic genocide of the area.
Yet the stockaders were not at all concerned about the real nationalist struggle of the time. Like the fine words of the American revolution, they were revolutionary ideals of and for the invading society.
The very issue of the right to mine may well be an honourable demand from a Terra Nullius perspective, but that is not how it was and the stockaders knew it by way of direct contact with Aboriginal people. They just didn’t care whose land it was, they claimed it as their own just as the worst of the colonial authorities had done.
Just like the Irish republican uprising at Parramatta, “The Battle of Vinegar Hill” never connected to Pemulwoy and the nationalist guerilla resistance which was raging in the same place at the same time.
Just like the great shearers strike in Qld which occured at the same time and place as the last wave of Native Police massacres and the internment of the surviving population into concentration camps, and the shearers did and said nothing and had amongst their slogans “Australia for the Whiteman”.
I fully support nationalism. The domination of the radical agenda of internationalists since the demise of the CPA has made the radical left irrelevant to Australia with nothing to connect to the population except a hollow ideological framework.
However, If we are serious about recognising Aboriginal sovereignty and colonisation we have to be prepared to examine our own sacred cows in this regard.
I have argued about this with Shane Howard who, like Jim Sharp has great respect for Aboriginal sovereignty and played key support roles in the Aboriginal struggle, so I do not at all question the sincerity or understandings of this organisation. I just think a bit of a broader and deeper understanding of Australian history may be needed to progress the various objectives of this organisation and any radical nationalism.