Australia Day protesters target Captain James Cook statue in Cairns
Australia Day protesters have squeezed in one final political salvo just days before the book closes on offers to pull down the city’s most controversial statue.
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Australia Day protesters have squeezed in one final political salvo just days before the book closes on offers to pull down the city’s most controversial statue.
A banner saying “Cook was cooked” was erected on a fence beside the figure on Sheridan St before being torn down.
The statement appears to be a reference to the famous seafarer’s demise after he was killed in Hawaii in 1779, with parts of his body boiled so his meat could be easily scraped away from the bones.
According to the Captain Cook Society, the Hawaiian Islanders that dispatched the sailor were not cannibals, but believed “the power of a man was in his bones”.
The Cairns structure was not the only one targeted by Invasion Day protesters on Thursday.
A Captain Cook statue in Melbourne was painted red during a protest calling for Australia Day to be abolished.
It will likely be the last Australia Day that the divisive effigy stands – at least in its current spotin Cairns.
James Cook University is on the hunt for anyone interested in removing the statue, with tenders closing on Monday.
The structure will be removed to make way for the Cairns University Hospital expansion project.
“JCU has purchased land bounded by Sheridan, Grove, Digger and Charles Streets to establish the Far North Queensland Health and Innovation Precinct and commence development of the Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre (CTEC),” tender documents state.
“CTEC is an education, training, research and innovation project creating a multidisciplinary centre for applied technology and enterprise, with a focus on health, and include elements engaging with high schools in the Cairns region.
“Proximity to the Cairns Hospital will drive health-services collaboration.
“In preparation for development, JCU has commenced demolition of existing structures, with exception of the James Cook statue (the statue) which local media has previously reported as being regarded as part of the city (Cairns) history.
“JCU is seeking offers by open public tender, for a proponent to take ownership of and remove the statue.”
The JCU documents go on to say the 10m-high statue was designed by New Zealand graphic artist Christopher Pigeon, and constructed in 1972 for motel owner Alan J Ferguson.
The motel that was eventually named The Captain Cook Motel was under construction when the work was commissioned.
“The statue was originally not painted, but is currently painted red, blue and white,” the document continued.
“Previous articles indicate that Christopher Pigeon based the commission on E. Phillips Fox painting in 1902 of the “Landing of Captain Cook at Botany Bay 1770.
“There is much folklore associated with the statue.
“Legend has it a council officer assessing the development application misread the proposal, thinking it was referring to feet instead of metres, the result being an enormous statue, although engineering drawings from Ariotti Norman Hamilton & Bruce depict a 35+ foot structure.”
The university also made reference to the furore that has followed the statue’s existence amid the current political climate.
“More recently, local media reported a petition to have the statue knocked down attracted more than 10,000 signatures when the Black Lives Matter movement was at its height last year,” it said.
Whoever wins the contract must remove the structure in its entirety, including footings and other in-ground building elements, with the site remediated and returned to flat earth.
JCU has been asked whether any suitable offers have been received so far, and when the removal could be expected to start.
Originally published as Australia Day protesters target Captain James Cook statue in Cairns
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