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The Anti-Gold Licence Association, was formed in
Bendigo, Victoria Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
on 6 June 1853. The Association's protest became known as the Red Ribbon Rebellion, since at meetings in June and July thousands of miners gathered, wearing red ribbons around their hats, to show their solidarity in opposing the conditions imposed upon them by the government. On 26 July 1853 Governor La Trobe was presented with a petition drawn up by the Association, and undersigned by more than 23,000 miners from the region. The miners objected to the high
miner's licence The miner's licence was the colonial government's response to the need to provide infrastructure including policing during the Australian gold rushes. The first Australian mining laws were enacted in 1851. A proclamation by Governor La Trobe, of ...
fee of 30 shillings per month, and resolved to pay only 10 shillings in licence fees and, if this was refused, to pay no more fees at all. All miners supporting the resolution would continue to wear red ribbons around their hats as a symbol of defiance. In response to the agitation at Bendigo, all available military forces in the colony of Victoria were sent to the Bendigo gold field. At a meeting on 28 August 1853 shots were fired. On 30 August 1853 Governor La Trobe appeared to accede to the demands when he announced the abolition of the licence system and its replacement by an export duty and a small registration fee.{{cite book , editor1=Aplin, Graeme , editor2=S.G. Foster , editor3=Michael McKernan , title = Australians: Events and Places , date = 1987 , publisher = Fairfax, Syme & Weldon Associates , location = Broadway, New South Wales, Australia , isbn = 0-949288-13-6 , page = 65 But the Victorian Legislative Council rejected La Trobe's proposal and his promise was not enacted. The licence system continued until after the
Eureka Rebellion The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, which ...
on the Ballarat gold field caused the loss of life in December 1854, and led to the eventual reform of the government-imposed conditions for miners in 1855.


References

1853 in Australia 1854 in Australia Bendigo History of Victoria (Australia) Victoria (Australia) gold rushes Australian gold rushes Rebellions in Australia Protests in Australia 19th-century reform movements