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Leader Live
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Leader Live
Captain Cook monument removed from Melbourne park after repeated vandalism
But the mayor rejected accusations that the vandals have won. Statues and monuments to the 18th century naval officer are common in Australia and are often defaced by opponents of Britain's settlement of the country without a treaty with its indigenous people. In 1770, then-Lieutenant Cook charted the Australian east coast where Sydney would become the first British colony on the continent. The granite and bronze monument to the master navigator and cartographer in an inner-city Melbourne park was vandalised days after the anniversary of the first British settlers' arrival at Sydney Cove was commemorated on January 26. Opponents of Australia Day celebrations denounce the public holiday as 'Invasion Day'. There are growing calls for the country to find a less divisive national day. The monument in Melbourne's Edinburgh Gardens was snapped at its base and spray-painted with the words 'cook the colony'. Mayor Stephen Jolly, head of the Yarra City Council, which is a municipality near the heart of Melbourne, said his fellow councillors had voted unanimously on Tuesday night against spending 15,000 Australian dollars (£7,285) on repairing the monument, which remains in storage. Mr Jolly said the decision to permanently remove the monument, which included an image of Cook's face cast in bronze, was about economics rather than taking a position in Australia's culture wars. 'It's about being economically rational. It's 15,000 dollars a pop every time we have to repair it and it's persistently getting either demolished or vandalised or tagged,' Mr Jolly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'It's just a waste of ratepayers' money. We can't afford to do that,' he added. But Victoria state's Melbourne-based conservative opposition leader Brad Battin condemned removing such memorials as surrendering to vandals. 'We need to stand strong and remember the fact that this is part of our history,' Mr Battin told reporters. 'If you start to remove the history of our state and our country because of activists, then you're actually giving in to those that are campaigning against it,' he added. Mr Jolly disagreed that his council had given the vandals what they wanted. 'No, I think they would've loved for us to put it back up and then they could've just tagged it again or destroyed it again and just had this ongoing sort of little war going on in Edinburgh Gardens,' he said. 'I think they're probably the most disappointed people that it's not going to be there anymore,' Mr Jolly added. The base of the monument remained at the entrance of the park on Wednesday with a traffic cone attached to warn cyclists, joggers and pedestrians of the trip hazard it presents. Someone has scrawled a smiling face and a torso on the cone in an apparent reference to the memorial that had once stood in its place. Mr Jolly said a local branch of the Captain Cook Society, an international group that celebrates the explorer, has offered to preserve the bronze plaques. Melbourne-based society member Bill Lang said discussions were under way to find a short-term home for the monument, such as a museum. Mr Lang said the council's decision not to repair the monument was disheartening. 'It's very disappointing for every open-minded Australian that believes that there are lots of things that we can learn about and learn from our history that we should celebrate,' he said.
Rhyl Journal
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
Captain Cook monument removed from Melbourne park after repeated vandalism
But the mayor rejected accusations that the vandals have won. Statues and monuments to the 18th century naval officer are common in Australia and are often defaced by opponents of Britain's settlement of the country without a treaty with its indigenous people. In 1770, then-Lieutenant Cook charted the Australian east coast where Sydney would become the first British colony on the continent. The granite and bronze monument to the master navigator and cartographer in an inner-city Melbourne park was vandalised days after the anniversary of the first British settlers' arrival at Sydney Cove was commemorated on January 26. Opponents of Australia Day celebrations denounce the public holiday as 'Invasion Day'. There are growing calls for the country to find a less divisive national day. The monument in Melbourne's Edinburgh Gardens was snapped at its base and spray-painted with the words 'cook the colony'. Mayor Stephen Jolly, head of the Yarra City Council, which is a municipality near the heart of Melbourne, said his fellow councillors had voted unanimously on Tuesday night against spending 15,000 Australian dollars (£7,285) on repairing the monument, which remains in storage. Mr Jolly said the decision to permanently remove the monument, which included an image of Cook's face cast in bronze, was about economics rather than taking a position in Australia's culture wars. 'It's about being economically rational. It's 15,000 dollars a pop every time we have to repair it and it's persistently getting either demolished or vandalised or tagged,' Mr Jolly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'It's just a waste of ratepayers' money. We can't afford to do that,' he added. But Victoria state's Melbourne-based conservative opposition leader Brad Battin condemned removing such memorials as surrendering to vandals. 'We need to stand strong and remember the fact that this is part of our history,' Mr Battin told reporters. 'If you start to remove the history of our state and our country because of activists, then you're actually giving in to those that are campaigning against it,' he added. Mr Jolly disagreed that his council had given the vandals what they wanted. 'No, I think they would've loved for us to put it back up and then they could've just tagged it again or destroyed it again and just had this ongoing sort of little war going on in Edinburgh Gardens,' he said. 'I think they're probably the most disappointed people that it's not going to be there anymore,' Mr Jolly added. The base of the monument remained at the entrance of the park on Wednesday with a traffic cone attached to warn cyclists, joggers and pedestrians of the trip hazard it presents. Someone has scrawled a smiling face and a torso on the cone in an apparent reference to the memorial that had once stood in its place. Mr Jolly said a local branch of the Captain Cook Society, an international group that celebrates the explorer, has offered to preserve the bronze plaques. Melbourne-based society member Bill Lang said discussions were under way to find a short-term home for the monument, such as a museum. Mr Lang said the council's decision not to repair the monument was disheartening. 'It's very disappointing for every open-minded Australian that believes that there are lots of things that we can learn about and learn from our history that we should celebrate,' he said.
North Wales Chronicle
14-05-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Captain Cook monument removed from Melbourne park after repeated vandalism
But the mayor rejected accusations that the vandals have won. Statues and monuments to the 18th century naval officer are common in Australia and are often defaced by opponents of Britain's settlement of the country without a treaty with its indigenous people. In 1770, then-Lieutenant Cook charted the Australian east coast where Sydney would become the first British colony on the continent. The granite and bronze monument to the master navigator and cartographer in an inner-city Melbourne park was vandalised days after the anniversary of the first British settlers' arrival at Sydney Cove was commemorated on January 26. Opponents of Australia Day celebrations denounce the public holiday as 'Invasion Day'. There are growing calls for the country to find a less divisive national day. The monument in Melbourne's Edinburgh Gardens was snapped at its base and spray-painted with the words 'cook the colony'. Mayor Stephen Jolly, head of the Yarra City Council, which is a municipality near the heart of Melbourne, said his fellow councillors had voted unanimously on Tuesday night against spending 15,000 Australian dollars (£7,285) on repairing the monument, which remains in storage. Mr Jolly said the decision to permanently remove the monument, which included an image of Cook's face cast in bronze, was about economics rather than taking a position in Australia's culture wars. 'It's about being economically rational. It's 15,000 dollars a pop every time we have to repair it and it's persistently getting either demolished or vandalised or tagged,' Mr Jolly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'It's just a waste of ratepayers' money. We can't afford to do that,' he added. But Victoria state's Melbourne-based conservative opposition leader Brad Battin condemned removing such memorials as surrendering to vandals. 'We need to stand strong and remember the fact that this is part of our history,' Mr Battin told reporters. 'If you start to remove the history of our state and our country because of activists, then you're actually giving in to those that are campaigning against it,' he added. Mr Jolly disagreed that his council had given the vandals what they wanted. 'No, I think they would've loved for us to put it back up and then they could've just tagged it again or destroyed it again and just had this ongoing sort of little war going on in Edinburgh Gardens,' he said. 'I think they're probably the most disappointed people that it's not going to be there anymore,' Mr Jolly added. The base of the monument remained at the entrance of the park on Wednesday with a traffic cone attached to warn cyclists, joggers and pedestrians of the trip hazard it presents. Someone has scrawled a smiling face and a torso on the cone in an apparent reference to the memorial that had once stood in its place. Mr Jolly said a local branch of the Captain Cook Society, an international group that celebrates the explorer, has offered to preserve the bronze plaques. Melbourne-based society member Bill Lang said discussions were under way to find a short-term home for the monument, such as a museum. Mr Lang said the council's decision not to repair the monument was disheartening. 'It's very disappointing for every open-minded Australian that believes that there are lots of things that we can learn about and learn from our history that we should celebrate,' he said.
Belfast Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Captain Cook monument removed from Melbourne park after repeated vandalism
But the mayor rejected accusations that the vandals have won. Statues and monuments to the 18th century naval officer are common in Australia and are often defaced by opponents of Britain's settlement of the country without a treaty with its indigenous people. In 1770, then-Lieutenant Cook charted the Australian east coast where Sydney would become the first British colony on the continent. The granite and bronze monument to the master navigator and cartographer in an inner-city Melbourne park was vandalised days after the anniversary of the first British settlers' arrival at Sydney Cove was commemorated on January 26. Opponents of Australia Day celebrations denounce the public holiday as 'Invasion Day'. There are growing calls for the country to find a less divisive national day. The monument in Melbourne's Edinburgh Gardens was snapped at its base and spray-painted with the words 'cook the colony'. Mayor Stephen Jolly, head of the Yarra City Council, which is a municipality near the heart of Melbourne, said his fellow councillors had voted unanimously on Tuesday night against spending 15,000 Australian dollars (£7,285) on repairing the monument, which remains in storage. Mr Jolly said the decision to permanently remove the monument, which included an image of Cook's face cast in bronze, was about economics rather than taking a position in Australia's culture wars. 'It's about being economically rational. It's 15,000 dollars a pop every time we have to repair it and it's persistently getting either demolished or vandalised or tagged,' Mr Jolly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 'It's just a waste of ratepayers' money. We can't afford to do that,' he added. But Victoria state's Melbourne-based conservative opposition leader Brad Battin condemned removing such memorials as surrendering to vandals. 'We need to stand strong and remember the fact that this is part of our history,' Mr Battin told reporters. 'If you start to remove the history of our state and our country because of activists, then you're actually giving in to those that are campaigning against it,' he added. Mr Jolly disagreed that his council had given the vandals what they wanted. 'No, I think they would've loved for us to put it back up and then they could've just tagged it again or destroyed it again and just had this ongoing sort of little war going on in Edinburgh Gardens,' he said. 'I think they're probably the most disappointed people that it's not going to be there anymore,' Mr Jolly added. The base of the monument remained at the entrance of the park on Wednesday with a traffic cone attached to warn cyclists, joggers and pedestrians of the trip hazard it presents. Someone has scrawled a smiling face and a torso on the cone in an apparent reference to the memorial that had once stood in its place. Mr Jolly said a local branch of the Captain Cook Society, an international group that celebrates the explorer, has offered to preserve the bronze plaques. Melbourne-based society member Bill Lang said discussions were under way to find a short-term home for the monument, such as a museum. Mr Lang said the council's decision not to repair the monument was disheartening. 'It's very disappointing for every open-minded Australian that believes that there are lots of things that we can learn about and learn from our history that we should celebrate,' he said.
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- The Advertiser
'How can we justify that?' Captain Cook memorial axed over expensive repairs
Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP. Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP. Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP. Repeated vandalism of a Captain Cook memorial has prompted a local council to scrap the granite monument as repair costs escalate. "If you had a $28,000 car and you were spending $15,000 every time you had to repair it, you'd probably get rid of the car," he said at a council meeting on May 13. Faced with repair costs that were more than half the value of the memorial, the City of Yarra voted unanimously not to reinstate the statue. READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator The granite monument was toppled and graffitied over the Australia Day long weekend and is currently in council storage. The council heard that the plaque was the target of "sustained, ongoing, annual" vandalism, with more than $100,000 already spent on repairs over 25 years. "I think we have to separate the interesting, fascinating actually, debate out there in the community about Captain Cook," Mr Jolly said. The mayor said that while he was "not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones", he said he supported the right of peaceful protest "to try and generate a debate about it". "But here at council, it's much more boring than that. We have to deal with a bog-standard boring economic issue that it's $15,000 to repair, plus all the other expenses," he said. "I don't think if we put it back up, it would be just damaged one more time, it would be ongoing, ongoing and ongoing." Premier Jacinta Allan described the continued vandalism of monuments as "deeply disrespectful" and called for community division to end. In 2020, the memorial's plaque featuring Cook's face was spray-painted over, with the words "shame" and "remove this" scrawled beneath. A statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda, and another statue of Queen Victoria near the city's Botanic Gardens was splattered with red paint last year on the eve of Australia Day. The bronze plaques, which belong to the memorial, are expected to be given to the Captain Cook Society, which celebrates the British explorer. With AAP.
