Dutton fury over moves to remove historical statues in Sydney
IMMIGRATION Minister Peter Dutton says axing or altering Captain Cook and Lachlan Macquarie statues in Hyde Park “defied common sense” and it would not be tolerated by ordinary Australians.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Like Stalinist Russia: Warren Mundine on statue removal
- Andrew Bolt on cultural heroes: who will escape whipping?
A CAMPAIGN to potentially purge Sydney of important historical statues has been slammed by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton as it emerged that dozens more landmarks linked to Australia’s colonial past could be in the crosshairs.
Mr Dutton said axing or altering Captain Cook and Lachlan Macquarie statues in Hyde Park “defied common sense” and it would not be tolerated by ordinary Australians.
“These are the campaigns of the left, they preach some of this stuff at university, Safe Schools, all sorts of programs which are based around trying to diminish elements of our society, and it defies common sense,” he said.
“People have respect for our institutions, they expect the good and the bad of our history to be recorded accurately.”
It comes as Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore failed to rule out referring more statues, street names and landmarks to a City of Sydney advisory panel for potential change.
ABC broadcaster Stan Grant is among those calling for an examination of various statues and place names linked to violence against indigenous Australians. Mr Grant has not made a call for any removal of any monuments.
Historian Keith Windschuttle said that the attack on the monuments of Cook and Phillip was part of a broader campaign to rewrite history.
Labor NSW frontbencher Walt Secord — born to an indigenous Mohawk father in rural Canada — also questioned where the debate will end. “Make no mistake, we must properly acknowledge the injustices of our past … but we cannot tear down or replace every single statue or monument in NSW,” he said.
City of Sydney’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Panel will meet in October to help determine the future of the Cook and Macquarie statues after Ms Moore referred the issue this week. A final decision will rest with City of Sydney council.
Panel member Nicole Monks declared the Cook statue “embarrassing and totally confusing to our next generation when the text on the statue still states ‘discovered in 1788’”.
KEEP THE STATUE, CHANGE THE TEXT
THE licensee of the Captain Cook Hotel has joined the bandwagon of people who thinks the Hyde Park statue of its namesake should no longer say he “discovered” Australia.
The Daily Telegraph hit up the Paddington hotel last night to see what punters were saying about the debate over the legacy of the venue’s namesake.
The statue’s survival was thrown into question after Lord Mayor Clover Moore refused to rule out removing the statue because it says the explorer “discovered this territory”.
As licensee of the Paddington hotel, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who loves Captain Cook more than Stewart Williams.
But even he thought the plaque should be reworded to say Captain Cook didn’t discover Australia but simply arrived in what would become Australia.
However he said they should stop short of removing the monument altogether, saying the navigator had well and truly earned his place in the pages of Australian history.
“He was a pioneer and a great man in his own right, I don’t think they should take him down,” he said.
Cook is credited with discovering Australia in 1770 and was later killed in Hawaii while he was said to be trying to kidnap the native chief of Hawaii, in 1779.
He was stabbed to death by Hawaiian villagers on a beach after he was struck in the head, according to some historical accounts.
Pub local Mark Hanrahan said people shouldn’t get bogged down in the semantics of what was written on the plaque and people should start thinking about real problems facing Australia’s indigenous population.
“There is an element of ‘Really? What’s the next thing you want to tear down’? How about build some stuff.”
He suggested that if people were worried about the lack of indigenous historical figures, this could be fixed through the creation of new statues.
“Instead of saying ‘tear down those statues’ how about we put more statues up,” he said.
Originally published as Dutton fury over moves to remove historical statues in Sydney
Paperclip panic as Officeworks store still in ‘stationery’ position
Months after it was battered by the Mid-North Coast floods, a busy Officeworks store remains firmly shut and the chain can’t provide a date when it will reopen, stoking local fears it may be gone for good.
Horrific scene: Teen boy dead, another loses arm in jet ski crash
Emergency responders have been praised as ‘heroic’ after being confronted with the aftermath of a shocking jet ski accident that left a teen boy dead and another in a critical condition with a severed arm.