Presented by historian Michael Cathcart, Australia on Trial is a thought‐provoking three‐part series recreating the historic trials that throw light on the Australia of colonial times. These high‐profile and controversial court cases raised major issues of national identity at a time when Australia was evolving from the dominion of the British Empire into a more autonomous federated nation in the late 19th century.
Each of the cases caused a sensation at the time and attracted enormous public interest. Each triggered social and political debate about subjects at the very heart of Australian society: democracy and justice, the identity and behaviour of Australia's men, and attitudes towards women and Indigenous people - themes and concerns that are still relevant to modern-day Australia.
This case was the combined trials in 1855 of the Eureka Stockade rebels. In the
aftermath of the Eureka rebellion, the attorney general of Victoria, William Stawell, was
determined to hang the rebels for treason. After all, he said, these men had taken up arms
against her Majesty's government. On the face of it, Stawell was on strong ground. The
miners had indeed raised a 'rebel flag'. They had drilled with weapons and they had
denounced the governor. Twelve men were to stand trial, one by one. The first was a black
American, probably an escaped slave, named John Joseph. The population of Melbourne
was in no mood to hang a man who had been driven to desperate lengths by an inept and
militaristic government -- a government which was on the very eve of being abolished to
make way for a new system of popular elections. In the end, all of the rebels walked free.
