Peter Lalor was an Irish man who led all the miners of the Eureka Stockade. In his early days he was in the politics, but the Eureka stockade started a passion for justice that began his political life.

Born in Ireland in 1827, Lalor came to Australia in 1852 and went to the Ballarat goldfields in 1854. But the growing towards the government's laws regarding diggers, Lalor was initially not involved with the miners' rebellions.

However, on 29 November 1854, 12,000 diggers met under the Southern Cross flag, pledging to unite in protest against the unfair laws they faced. The next day, with none of the regular spokesmen present, Lalor reluctantly stepped up as leader, rallying the miners and calling on them to arm themselves for battle. According to one observer, Lalor: