28/01/2026
International Day of Coexistence
Today on the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence we reflect on the democratic legacy of the Chinese struggle for freedom and equality on the Victorian Goldfields.
At the Eureka Centre, we focus on the story of the protesters of 35 different nationalities who stood together at the Eureka Stockade in defence of their rights and liberties. But there was another struggle on the goldfields, by Chinese miners, that some historians have equated with the Eureka Rebellion in terms of effective political activism.
Chinese migrants began arriving on the Victorian Goldfields around 1853, though their number remained small during the early years of the gold rush. Chinese people are not believed to have been present at the Eureka Stockade. This could be due to the social division between European and Chinese miners, or perhaps because of Ballarat’s small Chinese population of between 2,000 to 3,000 in 1854.
Despite emerging exclusionary discourses, which were soon enshrined in law, Chinese migration increased rapidly from the mid-1850s. By 1857, one in every five miners in Ballarat was Chinese. In the years following Eureka, anti-Chinese sentiment increased. A report released by a government-appointed Commission of Enquiry, recommended increasing miners’ rights. It also recommended restrictions on Chinese migration and limiting the rights of Chinese residents in the colony. The Government enacted both recommendations.
In 1855, the Victorian Government introduced a £10 landing tax per Chinese migrant on their arrival by sea with restrictions allowing only one Chinese national to land per ten tonnes of cargo. Laws were introduced requiring the Chinese to live in segregated camps on the goldfields, and in 1857 a Chinese residence tax was also introduced.
Galvanised by relentless and growing racial discrimination, the Chinese responded with Chartist tactics of monster meetings, petitions, and peaceful protest, similar to the Ballarat Reform League. The Chinese were joined in their protest by sympathetic Europeans, who presented petitions to government officials on behalf of the Chinese or signed them in support. A notable example is the Ararat petition of 1861, which gathered 75 Chinese and 102 non-Chinese signatures.
In 1859, a united confederacy formed amongst the Chinese on the larger goldfields. They used acts of civil disobedience to protest their treatment, including refusing to do business with Europeans or choosing imprisonment rather than paying taxes. This sustained campaign contributed to the Chinese residence and landing taxes being abolished in 1862 and 1863 respectively.
On this International Day of Peaceful Coexistence, we invite you to discover more about the legacy of Chinese activism on the gold rush. Click on this link to a video recording of a talk by historian Paul Macgregor about the Chinese Miners' Resident Tax Revolt of 1859. Paul is then joined in a conversation with historian Anna Kyi from Sovereign Hill and Charles Zhang from the Chinese Australian Cultural Society Ballarat Inc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QRJusrdudY
Image: A C Cooke (illustrator), ‘Chinese Quarter Ballarat’, wood engraving, published in The Illustrated Australian News, 18 July 1868, Melbourne: Ebenezer and David Syme, State Library of Victoria
City of Ballarat United Nations United Nations Human Rights Xin Jin Shan Chinese Library Goldfields World Heritage Bid Ballarat Heritage Festival Harmony Fest (City of Ballarat) Ballarat Historical Society U3A Ballarat Eureka Australia Descendants and Supporters Golden Dragon Museum 金龍博物館 Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council - BRMC Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY)
