eGold - A Nation's Heritage

The path to responsible government in Victoria emerged from the conflicts that occurred on the goldfields. On the Mount Alexander diggings the moment came on 15 December 1851, at a monster meeting that attracted more than 10,000 diggers protesting at the increased cost of a licence to mine for gold. This gathering predated the better-known Red Ribbon Rebellion in Bendigo, and also the tumultuous events that took place at Bakery Hill culminating in the Eureka Stockade. Even the title ‘monster meeting’ given to the Castlemaine assembly would have been a particularly loaded one, being the same term used to describe the largest political protest to take place in Britain - the Chartist monster meeting on Kennington Common, London, in 1848. These series of protests have increasingly been regarded as formative moments that ushered in democratic principles and responsible government in Victoria.