Greens staffer charged over Cook vandalism

A part-time employee of NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge is charged with allegedly spraying graffiti on a Captain Cook statue.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge, left, with part-time staffer Xiaoran Shi.

The NSW goverment is considering tougher penalties for people who deface statues after two women — including a part-time employee of NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge — allegedly sprayed graffiti on a statue of Captain James Cook in Sydney.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian described people who vandalise statues as “un-Australian” and said her government would “tighten laws” to discourage activists from defacing historic monuments that had “helped make us who we are today”.

The statue of Captain James Cook that was allegedly vandalised in Hyde Park, Sydney. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“These trends globally are concerning,” Ms Berejiklian told Sky News on Sunday. “If we need to tighten laws, if we need to send a strong message to the community, we’ll do that.”

Xiaoran Shi, 28, faced Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday alongside her friend Charmaine Morrison-Mills, 27, after the pair allegedly defaced the statue in Hyde Park in the Sydney CBD at about 4am on Sunday.

Ms Shi is a member of the NSW Young Greens and is employed part-time by Mr Shoebridge’s office working on the Sniff Off campaign — which opposes the over-use of drug sniffer dogs on the public.

“I understand that one of the two people charged regarding the incident involving the statue in Hyde Park has part-time employment with my office,” Mr Shoebridge said in a statement.

Mr Shoebridge said Ms Shi, who is also a former editor of Sydney University newspaper Honi Soit, was not working at the time of the incident, which occurred “well outside of work hours”.

“I will not be making any further comment on the matter as it is currently before the courts,” he said.

The women were arrested on Sunday near College Street in the city centre after police were alerted to graffiti on the statue at 4am. The pair were allegedly found with several spray cans in a bag.

They were both granted bail and will appear before Sydney’s Downing Centre Court on July 2.

Victorian police are also investigating the defacing of statues in Ballarat after bronze busts 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.

Sydney-based artist Linda Klarfeld, who was commissioned for the bust of Mr Abbott, expressed her sadness at the damage done to her work.

“It’s a shame that somebody would go and destroy something, because it doesn’t respect those who put their blood, sweat and tears into it,” Ms Klarfeld told Ballarat newspaper The Courier.

Charmaine Morrison-Mills has been charged for allegedly defacing the staue of Captain James Cook. Picture: Facebook

“Obviously it makes me very sad to hear it because I put so much work into that. It took many months.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the attacks on monuments of prominent Australian figures as “pathetic” and told the Sunday Herald Sun it amounted to “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,” he said.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Ballarat’s avenue of former prime ministers “celebrates them all regardless of their politics, and it’s a key part of our history as a nation”.

“It shouldn’t occur and no doubt it will be investigated,” he told Channel Seven.

Labor health spokesman Chris Bowen said although there was legitimate debate about how to include indigenous Australians in the commemoration of history there was “no place” for vandalism.

A Captain James Stirling statue in Perth, Western Australia was also defaced on Friday 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.