Richard Marles calls for history to be respected as vision of statue vandalism emerges

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has called for history to be respected, as vision emerged of vandals pulling down a Geelong statue. WATCH THE VIDEO

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says monuments honouring Australia’s colonial history should be respected, as video emerged of the vandalism attack where a statue of Queen Victoria in Geelong was toppled.

The statue that’s stood in Eastern Park since 1912 was pulled from its plinth and defaced again by vandals in the second attack on the monument in as many weeks.

Victoria Police is investigating after walkers discovered the historical figure on the ground by the plinth on Thursday, with the plinth spray painted with the words “The colony can fall.”

Police were canvassing nearby CCTV, but believe dashcam footage from drivers on Malop St could significantly help with the investigation.

The damaged Queen Victoria statue in eastern gardens is craned away. Picture: Alison Wynd

No arrests had been made as of Friday, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Both Victoria Police and Geelong council declined to comment on the footage.

Mr Marles said at a press conference in Corio on Friday he wasn’t aware the statue had been attacked again, but called for respect for Australia’s history.

“It’s really important that we tell our whole history and are sensitive that as we think about our history, we are thinking about the place that Indigenous Australians as the oldest continuous culture in the world have had in our history,” Mr Marles said.

“Our history didn’t begin in 1788 and certainly in our history extends well beyond that.

“We are so lucky as a country to have that culture and it’s really important that we recognise that.

Corio MP and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“And I think we’ve come a long way in the way in which we speak about that and the way in which we think we acknowledge that.”

Mr Marles said the statues such as of Queen Victoria reflected a more recent part of Australia’s history.

“I can understand why people have a fondness about all those monuments around town around knowing where they are, giving you a sense of what those spaces are,” he said.

“And I think all that needs to be respected.”

Video emerged of the destructive early morning act, showing unknown people under the cover of darkness using rope to pull the metal statue from the plinth standing at the top end of Malop St.

The video, which erroneously stated it depicted Queen Elizabeth, also shows the statue being spray painted, and the damage inflicted to the face of Queen Victoria.

The video was shared by Climate Resistance Youth Movement, which stated on its Instagram page that it received the footage from an anonymous source.

The same message was sprayed on a metal Captain Cook sculpture cut from its stone base in St Kilda on January 25.

A statue was also cut off in the Fitzroy Gardens in East Melbourne in late February.

Queen Victoria has stood in Eastern Park for 112 years after it was relocated from its original position within the old Market Square in Geelong.

Originally published as Richard Marles calls for history to be respected as vision of statue vandalism emerges