Poor turnout to Eureka celebrations

By Cathy Morris
Updated November 2 2012 - 12:55pm, first published December 6 2009 - 12:19pm
ON THE MARCH: Redcoats take part in Eureka celebrations at the Old Ballarat Cemetery. Picture: Lachlan Bence
ON THE MARCH: Redcoats take part in Eureka celebrations at the Old Ballarat Cemetery. Picture: Lachlan Bence

THE turnout to a Eureka Stockade commemoration at the Old Ballarat Cemetery on Saturday has been branded disappointing after it failed to attract the crowds.Following the event, the City of Ballarat promised a full debrief of the Eureka Week's events with the hope of boosting numbers next year.The commemoration at the Old Ballarat Cemetery, involving a re-enactment group dressed as redcoats, attracted about 30 people. Organiser Doug Sarah said the "true believers" who knew what the story meant to Ballarat attended every year. He urged the crowd to see if they could get 20 extra people each to attend next year."That would really impress me."Mr Sarah said the annual event at the cemetery, established in 1974, was non-political.As part of the event, the redcoats and attendees visit sites commemorating both the miners and soldiers killed during the Eureka Stockade. Those celebrating Eureka also listen to an annual speech, The Peter Tobin Oration. This year the oration was delivered by City of Ballarat CEO Anthony Schinck. A Digger's March was held from Bakery Hill to the Eureka Stockade on Saturday afternoon. "One of the issues we have got is how we can get younger people involved," Mr Sarah said."We need to have that (the Eureka Stockade) embedded in history at schools," he said.Ballarat Mayor Judy Verlin said people drove past the cemetery every day, but the challenge was to get them to stop and acknowledge what happened."It's time we actually took a lead role in ensuring activities of the Eureka Week are integrated into the wider community," Cr Verlin said. "The critical thing . . . is a full debrief of the Eureka Week's activities and commence planning for next year at an early stage," she said.Cr Verlin said the second stage of the Eureka Centre redevelopment, to be renamed the Australian Centre for Democracy at Eureka, would strengthen the program.

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