Volume 3. Eureka Stockade Was a Revolt Against Higher Taxes: IPA Documentary

As part of the Foundations of Western Civilisation Program, the Institute of Public Affairs has produced a series of short films, which explain the important role that British Institutions have played in shaping our nation.

“The battle that won Australians the right to vote was a revolt against higher taxes” said Dr Bella d’Abrera, Director of the Foundations of Western Civilisation program at the Institute of Public Affairs.

‘Australia’s own Tea Party Revolution’ is the third and final film in the Institute of Public Affairs ‘The British Heritage of our Freedoms: The Untold Stories’ series.

“Wealth was not the only thing to come out of the Australian gold rush of the nineteenth century. Thanks largely to both the presence of the Chartists on the Victorian goldfields during the 1850s, and the demands they made following the Eureka Stockade, the political landscape of Australia was to change forever.”

“The Australian labour movement did not exist for many decades after Eureka, but its supporters often claim ideological roots from events at the stockade.”

“The CFMEU have even adopted the Eureka flag. Yet the collectivist union movements in Australia have ignored the fact that the Eureka diggers were independent workers, fighting for lower taxes and less regulation.”

“If we want to understand Australia’s success as a modern nation, as one of the world’s oldest continuous democracies, we must look back to the origins of our institutions.”

“The right to vote and equal representation in parliament for all men were achievements of the gold miners and the Ballarat reform league. These achievements make Australia one of the world’s most successful continuous democracies,” said Dr d’Abrera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gMUK1jrfkg&feature=youtu.be

A three films from the Foundations of Western Civilisation Program, are be available at: www.ipa.org.au/heritage-of-our-freedoms

For media and comment: Evan Mulholland, Media and Communications Manager, on 0405 140 780, or at [email protected]

Download the media release here