What Lalor wasn't fighting for
In the 160 odd years since Eureka, as the rebellion is commonly known, there have been many assessments made of the people involved, in particular who or what they represented. Lalor has been subject to this analysis more than any other, particularly because of the apparent difference between what many regard as the radical revolutionary at Eureka and the conservative MP and businessman post-Eureka.
Subsequently, Eureka was adopted by everyone from extreme right wing nationalists to extreme left wing revolutionaries, and the great Southern Cross flag has been misused as a symbol by all of them. But all these people and the nutcases who flow out both ends misunderstand Lalor and the reason he stood by the miners.
It's not true Lalor fought for:
It's a classic historian's error, to determine cause, drive, and outcome on the basis of current thinking, or even worse, the historian's biases and beliefs at the time the historian is doing her/his work. This error has caused so many of the writings, films, and documentaries on Eureka to focus on particular people, or perceived ideals, or specific events, or, until recently, mostly on a specific gender.
Subsequently, Eureka was adopted by everyone from extreme right wing nationalists to extreme left wing revolutionaries, and the great Southern Cross flag has been misused as a symbol by all of them. But all these people and the nutcases who flow out both ends misunderstand Lalor and the reason he stood by the miners.
It's not true Lalor fought for:
- the worker or some sort of mythical workers' paradise;
- some equally nonsensical image of an anti-immigrant/refugee/Islam all-white Australia; or
- the rights of small business to carry on their operations without interference from government, or being tied up in bureaucratic red tape.
It's a classic historian's error, to determine cause, drive, and outcome on the basis of current thinking, or even worse, the historian's biases and beliefs at the time the historian is doing her/his work. This error has caused so many of the writings, films, and documentaries on Eureka to focus on particular people, or perceived ideals, or specific events, or, until recently, mostly on a specific gender.