Arrests as more Australian monuments defaced
Scott Morrison slams ‘pathetic attention seekers’ as more statues of Australian figures around the country are vandalised.
Scott Morrison has slammed “pathetic” attacks on monuments of prominent Australian figures across the country this weekend.
Two women have been charged after a Captain Cook statue in Sydney’s Hyde Park was defaced on Sunday.
Police were alerted to the vandalism about 4am and arrested two women — aged 27 and 28 — nearby on College Street in the CBD, NSW Police said in a statement.
They were charged with property and graffiti offences and have both been refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court today.
The women were allegedly found with several spray cans in a bag. Police said they would continue “active patrols” of the city’s statues.
It comes as Victorian police are also investigating the defacing of statues in Ballarat.
The statues of former Australian prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard were sprayed with red paint on Saturday morning.
They have since been covered and fenced off and a conservator will assess the damage on Monday.
“This is as pathetic as it is disappointing,” Mr Morrison told the Sunday Herald Sun, calling it “attention-seeking behaviour”.
“Those carrying on in this way are determined to divide and offend Australians at a time when we are bringing our country together to restore to Australians their jobs and livelihoods taken by the COVID-19 crisis.”
Any normal person would be disgusted at the mindless vandalism of the statues in our Botanical Gardens last night.
— Amy Johnson (@01AmyJohnson) June 13, 2020
In recent weeks we’ve seen protestors overseas trashing public places, smashing windows and setting businesses on fire.#auspol #springst #ballarat pic.twitter.com/vaf80qc47m
Tony Abbott and John Howard. pic.twitter.com/jC5AucjXAw
— ECJMC âš¡ï¸ (@L1I9N6K4) June 13, 2020
A Captain James Stirling statue in Perth, Western Australia was on Friday also defaced and a 30-year-old man has been charged with criminal damage or destruction of property.
The statue’s neck and hands were painted red and an Aboriginal flag was painted over the inscription at the base.
Aftermath photos.
— Perth LIVE 6PR with Oliver Peterson (@PerthLive6PR) June 12, 2020
The Captain James Stirling statue in the CBD was vandalised earlier this afternoon. A man was taken into custody. #perthnews pic.twitter.com/wBomiGx29U
Historical monuments across the world have been toppled over the past two weeks as Black Lives Matter protesters march through the streets to call out racism following the death of African American man George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
In Australia, people have defied public health warnings amid the COVID-19 pandemic and turned out to protest indigenous deaths in custody and to rally in support of the BLM movement in Sydney, Perth, Darwin, Adelaide and Melbourne.
AAP
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