Melbourne split over push for Queen Elizabeth II statue

There are calls for the late Queen Elizabeth to be honoured with a statue in Melbourne — but not everyone is in favour.

Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed a marmalade sandwich with Paddington Bear during the Platinum Party at the Palace for her Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.

Calls are growing for the late Queen Elizabeth II to be honoured with a statue in Melbourne.

But while Melbourne City Council says there is a dramatic lack of female statues, its priority is to recognise Australian women first.

State Liberal MP Tim Smith said the Queen deserved the tribute for her decades of dedicated service.

“Queen Elizabeth II is this nation’s longest-serving female leader, so a statue marking her extraordinary duty and service is appropriate given there are simply not enough statues of women who have made a significant contribution to Australia,” he said.

Mr Smith said Queen Victoria had a memorial and statue on St Kilda Rd, and her descendant Queen Elizabeth should get one too, possibly in Kings Domain.

“The stability these women provided us so that our democracy may flourish is often ignored,” he said.

“It should not be. The Queen was not just a monarch living in London, she was one of us, and should be recognised in Melbourne with a statue.”

Australian Monarchist League spokesman Jeremy Mann supported the call.

Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia 16 times during her reign. Picture: Getty Images

The late monarch was the nation’s longest-serving female leader. Picture: Instagram

“The Queen was highly regarded by Australians for her unwavering loyalty to our nation, which was demonstrated by her 16 royal visits,” he said.

“The Queen had connections with many famous Melbourne icons, including attending the Melbourne Cup in 1981, and riding a Royal Tram on Her Majesty’s last Australian tour in 2011.”

Mr Mann said the League was pleased to that the Victorian government had moved to rename Maroondah Hospital to honour the Queen.

Acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said “Queen Elizabeth II will forever be remembered for her unwavering duty to our country, and we are all mourning her death at this time”.

“Women are dramatically under-represented in statues across the city, and we are working with state government and others to improve representation,” he said.

Mr Reece, who has previously lamented the overrepresentation of “dead white men” statues, said he was committed to seeing more statues of women in the city.

“We want to promote the heroes of our city, like we are doing with the (equal pay activist) Zelda D’Aprano statue.”

“There are many other Australian women who are yet to be recognised, such as (19th century humanitarian) Caroline Chisholm, and they remain our priority.”

Among the few statues of women in the city is the sculpture of medieval French warrior Joan of Arc outside the State Library.

Statues of Kylie Minogue and singer Dame Nellie Melba are sitting in storage.

Prominent men honoured with statues include explorer Matthew Flinders, King Edward VII, war hero Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop, poet Robert Burns, and the Marquess of Linlithgow on St Kilda Rd.