Controversial Bondi mural destroyed after vote to keep it

A Bondi mural protesting against Australia’s asylum seeker policy today lies in ruins after vandals painted over the artwork despite a local council vote on Tuesday night to keep it.

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Police are appealing for witnesses after vandals defaced a divisive Bondi Beach mural overnight.

Eastern suburbs detectives are today investigating after being alerted to the malicious damage by Waverley Council rangers in the early hours of the morning, just hours after a heated debate over the asylum seeker protest artwork by Luke Cornish.

Councillors had last night voted down a motion to paint over the “not welcome to Bondi” mural, but local vandals had other ideas, destroying the artwork in the dead of night.

Councillors had voted against Leon Goltsman’s urgency motion at the strategic planning committee meeting, which sought to have it removed on the basis that it was offensive and had “polarised the community”.

A controversial mural on the Bondi graffiti wall has been defaced overnight.

But some residents obviously didn’t agree with the council’s decision, destroying the mural by messily painting over it in white paint.

Waverley mayor John Wakefield has this morning condemned the actions of the vandal.

“Regrettably, the incident occurred soon after council last night resolved in-session to find a fair and balanced approach to deal with a controversial issue with a wide spectrum of opinion,” he said.

“The decision of council gained cross-party support for a reasoned and considered approach

which took into account — and paid respect to — the artist, as well as the views of those calling for the temporary mural to be removed, and those who wanted it to remain.

“Regrettably, someone has now taken the law into their own hands.”

The artist himself, Luke Cornish, has this morning spoken of his surprise “that it lasted more than two days”.

Artist Luke Cornish, pictured with his mural, has said the artwork was not an attack on border force officers of the government, but aimed at people on the beach “sticking their fingers in their ears” ignoring deaths in off-shore detention. Picture: John Appleyard

“The mural needed to be confronting, if I painted a f****** rainbow with ‘save the refugees’ no one would have cared,” he said.

Cr Goltsman, a key figure in the push to have the mural covered, this morning said he condemned the vigilantes behind the vandalism.

Things had flared up at last night’s council meeting when mayor Wakefield referred to a “highly concerted group” of the gallery as “six members of the Liberal party”, before stating that he himself would not have approved the mural.

“If this had come to me six weeks ago I would have rejected it, I would not have allowed it to go up but what message does that rejection send? That a mayor at his own whim can censor art,” he said.

A sign which has appeared on the mural this week. Picture John Grainger

“I find it very difficult as a mayor, as a longstanding mayor, to stand in front of you and go down in history as the mayor who censored an artwork.

Protesters led by former councillor Miriam Guttman-Jones had set up outside council chambers with signs reading “don’t politicise Bondi Beach” prior to the meeting.

A former Digger, one of five members of the public who spoke against keeping the mural up, told councillors the mural “was not art” before walking out of the meeting.

“I’m trembling up here guys … that picture is vilification,” Eric Teuben said.

“It is depicting me as causing suicides in detention centres.”

Protesters rally outside Waverley Council chambers ahead of a meeting where the "not welcome to Bondi" mural was discussed. Picture: Anton Rose

It is understood CCTV footage from along the promenade is currently being reviewed by council to help identify the perpetrator, though it is unclear at what time the offence occurred.

Councillors last night did approve an amended motion after Cr Goltsman’s was defeated, which will see an expression of interest campaign for a replacement mural after Mr Cornish’s Bondi Pavilion exhibition finishes up tomorrow.

A council officer told the meeting it could be gone “within weeks” if a curatorial panel was urgently convened to hasten the process.