Professor Blainey looks at how the image of the miner has changed from hero to often villain in the Australian consciousness. In the days of the gold digger and small prospector, the miner was seen as a tamer of the wilderness. But now mining has become big business and our changing attitudes to the environment and foreign ownership of resources have prompted a much more critical view. Blainey believes mining is as important as it ever was, and that our progress should sometimes come at the expense of the environment. He also questions the place of honour we have given to the rebels of the Eureka Stockade.