Yarra Council to audit monuments, statues, place name audit after Black Lives Matter protests
An inner-city mayor says her council is not seeking to remove any historical statues or plaques deemed racist or offensive under an audit put forward by a councillor saying there are “very mixed views” about whether they should stay.
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Yarra City Council will undertake a comprehensive audit of monuments, statues and places in the wake of recent Black Lives Matter protests.
The Captain James Cook monument at Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North and places named after other colonial figures including politician William Burnley and even British navy officer Cuthbert Collingwood are likely be part of the council stocktake.
The motion was put forward by Councillor Amanda Stone after the protests, which also resulted in the Cook monument being defaced earlier this month.
Cr Stone said the council was conducting a stocktake of monuments, statues and places after widespread community interest in symbols of oppression of indigenous Australians.
“There are very mixed views about those both in the mainstream and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” Cr Stone said.
“There are people that think these should stay and those who think that these should be taken down,” she said.
Cr Stone said there could be a need to employ a specialist to conduct an audit and review of the history, but was unsure of the cost to ratepayers.
“We employ consultants to do things all the time, it’s generally budgeted for but that will not happen until next year,” she said.
“Ratepayers pay for this sort of thing all the time, they paid for the Captain Cook plaque to go up and they would’ve paid for some kind of historical background into it.”
She said the stocktake would be completed by December, with the audit to occur next year.
“The real issue here is that this is a sensitive issue about black deaths in custody, systemic racism and injustice,” Cr Stone said.
But Ratepayers Victoria President Dean Hurlston said while most ratepayers supported the Black Lives Matter movement, it was not for council to be diverting funds to the cause.
“Councils need to focus on roads, rates and rubbish and stay out of this space,” Mr Hurlston said.
“What local councils should do is refer this matter to the State Government and ask them to get the National Council for Reconciliation involved.” he said.
Yarra Councillor Stephen Jolly, responding to community concerns, previously told Leader the statue’s fate should be decided by the local indigenous Australian community.
“We’re not going to have the statute dragged down and trashed tomorrow but it’s the indigenous community who should decide what happens,” Cr Jolly said.
Yarra Council Mayor Misha Coleman said the council declared its support for the global Black Lives Matter movement this week.
“Yarra will continue working with its Yana Ngargna advisory group and the broader Yarra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to explore opportunities for public art and civic signage in the city to reiterate this stance,” Cr Coleman said.
She said the council was committed to doing a stocktake of all the historical people and events represented in statues, plaques, monuments and other signs in the city.
“No decisions have been made on any of these. This stocktake was a recommendation made by a councillor and was not specifically requested by our advisory committee. It was however unanimously endorsed.“
Cr Coleman said the council was not seeking to remove or replace historical statues, plaques and monuments.
“We’re not interested in denying these historical figures or events ever existed, or their contribution to our history.”
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