A mayor has called for a recently vandalized statue of Captain Cook to be removed because it is a symbol “of colonial oppression”.
Local police are investigating after the 114-year-old statue in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was attacked on February 15 for the second time in four years.
Randwick City Council said it condemned “all acts of vandalism and had engaged heritage stone specialists to “repair the monument”.
But Greens mayor Philipa Veitch said her “strong personal view” was that statues, such as those of Captain Cook, “should be removed from our civic spaces”.
“They are a symbol and a reminder of colonial oppression,” he told Southern Messenger.
Local police are investigating after the 114-year-old statue (pictured) in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was attacked for the second time in four years on February 15.
Mayor Philipa Veitch (pictured) has called for a recently vandalized statue of Captain Cook to be removed because it is a symbol “of colonial oppression”.
“The statue should be removed out of respect for the residents who have been affected and those who would like to take tangible steps toward truth and genuine reconciliation.”
The mayor said it would be “more appropriate” for the statue to be donated to the Maritime Museum.
Independent councilor Noel D’Souza also wants the statue removed, saying that for indigenous people, Captain Cook “represents brutal conquest, invasion and enslavement”.
He argued that it should be replaced with a monument that represents “healing, justice, hope and inclusion.”
In recent years there have been a series of attacks on statues of Captain Cook in Australia.
In the early hours of January 25, one had his ankles cut off. on Jacka Boulevard in St Kilda in Melbourne.
Photos posted on social media showed the statue’s body slumped on the grass with “The Colony Will Fall” written in red spray paint on the stone pedestal beneath where the statue normally stood.
A statue of Captain Cook was cut down and vandalized in Melbourne’s St Kilda 24 hours before Australia Day
Vandals cut down a statue at Cook’s Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne on Monday
Another monument to Cook was vandalized in a park in Melbourne’s Fitzroy North on January 27.
Yarra City councilor Stephen Jolly said replacing it would be a “waste of money” and it would almost certainly be torn down again.
“Even people who love Captain Cook, who love Australia Day, will see that repairing a statue that costs thousands of dollars to repair is not the most important thing to spend money on.”
The most recent act of vandalism against a statue of Captain Cook occurred on Monday at the famous Cook’s Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens, in Melbourne’s east.
The bronze sculpture was cut below the feet. The words “the colony will fall” were painted next to the spot where the statue once stood.
A Melbourne City Council spokesperson said CCTV footage allegedly captured four people cutting down the statue.
A monument to Captain Cook in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, was painted days after Australia Day.
