Activist vandals ‘are ignorant of our history’ after Captain Cook statue attacked
Victoria Police are investigating two attacks by anti-Australia Day protesters who chopped a 1914 Captain Cook statue off at the ankles and doused another of Queen Victoria in paint.
Vandals who chopped down a century-old statue of James Cook on the eve of Australia Day have been branded as “ignorant”.
Police continue to investigate the 3.30am attack that saw the inner-city Melbourne statue at St Kilda hacked at the ankles and the declaration “the colony will fall” sprayed on the base in red paint.
Bella d’Abrera, director of the Institute of Public Affairs’ Foundations of Western Civilisation Program, described the attack as an outrage and branded the vandals as ignorant of history, as the explorer was killed a decade before the First Fleet arrived in 1788.
“Australians will be rightfully outraged by what has happened this morning. Far more Australians love their country and its national day than there are activists who seek to tear down our history,” Dr d’Abrera said.
“The vandalism … underscores the ignorance of those who want to cancel Australia Day. Captain Cook had been dead for nearly 10 years before the First Fleet arrived on 26 January, 1788.
“Captain Cook was one of the greatest explorers who ever lived and today there is still much to learn from his great legacy.”
A Queen Victoria statue near the Royal Botanic Gardens on St Kilda Rd was also vandalised early on Thursday, with attackers splashing it with red paint in a separate attack.
Council workers loaded the Captain Cook statue, which has stood in St Kilda since 1914, on to a truck and drove it away.
“Police are investigating criminal damage to a statue in St Kilda ... members of the public reported the Captain Cook Memorial in Jacka Boulevard had been vandalised,” a police spokesperson said. “It is understood the statue was sawn off at the ankles.
“Several people were seen loitering in the area around the time of the incident.”
Premier Jacinta Allan said “vandalism” had “no place” in the Victorian community, vowing to work with Port Phillip council to reinstate the statue.
“Obviously, Victoria Police are investigating the circumstances around what’s happened to these statues overnight, and we’ll let Victoria Police undertake their work,” Ms Allan said.
“I’d also encourage anyone with information about what’s happened overnight to come forward through Crimestoppers or directly through to Victoria Police.
“This sort of vandalism really has no place in our community.
“I want to signal today that we will be working with that council to repair and reinstate the statue.”
City of Port Phillip councillor Marcus Pearl said the vandals “must be held to account for their actions”.
“This is not a solitary act of mischief. It’s a repeated pattern of disrespect, especially evident around Australia Day for the past six years,” he told the Herald Sun.
“Resorting to vandalism is not only condemnable but also undermines the constructive discourse we strive for.
“Such acts blatantly disregard our community’s hard-fought principles of debate and democratic expression.”
Dr d’Abrera described the supporters who want to dump January 26 as Australia Day as a “noisy minority”.
“Research shows that in the past five years, less than one-in-five Australians want to change the date of Australia Day,” she said.
“It’s always a noisy minority who are intent on trying to cancel mainstream Australians and stop us from celebrating our wonderful country.
“January 26 is more than just a date – it represents the establishment of modern Australia as a free and fair country.
“It rightly should be celebrated. Mainstream Australians understand that cancelling Australia Day is an assault on the Australian way of life.”
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