What you said about the fight to save Captain Cook monument on Bruny Island

A memorial commemorating a moment in Australian history may be taken down permanently – and many aren’t happy. HAVE YOUR SAY

Australia is officially wild over “woke”.

That is one of the fallouts from revelations that a monument to Captain James Cook on Bruny Island could be permanently removed following a wave of community backlash.

The monument at Blackfellows Point was erected in 1970 and was the product of a collaboration between the Tasmanian government and the Swedish American Line to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Captain Cook’s first voyage to the Pacific Ocean on the Endeavour.

He is seen by many Indigenous Australians as a symbol of colonialism and invasion and is remembered by them for the violence he and his crews committed against First Nations peoples.

The Blackfellows Point monument was taken down in January 2022 after the Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) inspected the condition of the site, finding structural deterioration that posed safety risks.

Since its removal, a number of representations have been made asking for the memorial to be reinstated, prompting the PWS to conduct a public consultation process from February 5 to March 22 this year to determine whether or not it should restore the monument.

A Department of Natural Resources and Environment spokeswoman said a total of 14 submissions were received with the “majority” opposing the reinstatement of the memorial.

Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaign co-ordinator Nala Mansell said it was “great to see” support from the wider community for the permanent removal of the memorial.

However readers were quick to call for its return, with about 96 per cent of more than 15,700 voting so in an online poll.

Some readers claimed this was yet another sign of “woke” going too far; in a second poll more than 4000 readers voted that Australia is now very ‘woke’.

See what you had to say below and join the conversation >>>

Captain Cook memorial at Blackfellows Point on Bruny Island. Picture: Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas)

WHAT YOU SAID

Alternative thinking

John

How about someone providing an official definition of “woke?”

This word gets used so often, it appears the definition is someone is “woke” when they have an opinion that is different to that of someone else.

Chris

All due respects to an historic figure, but he didn’t come anywhere near Bruny Island. Maybe a plaque for someone who actually did?

B

Cancel their government handouts then it would stop as they would need to work. Cancel all government handouts to people who close all parks as they need to work too.

Shaun

History cannot be changed no matter how many statues or books are destroyed. Thing is if it could be changed none of us would be here. Sadly the permanently offended cannot grasp this concept!

A painting of Captain James Cook and crew members landing in Australia.

Out of control

Anonymous

I can’t wait for someone to run for parliament and standup against this rubbish. Odds are they will win in a landslide. People are sick of it

Peter

I always thought that reconciliation meant that we all live together in mutual respect. Apparently, 3% of the population insists that it means “It’s our way and nothing else.”

Col

All Lieutenant James Cook was guilty of mapping Australia and New Zealand. He did not invade Terra Australis.

Craig

A great day in our history. Australia being discovered. It has been a success story ever since with the development, jobs, standard of living and climate it unleashed.

Floss

I always find it funny the people that complain about colonising australia are the same ones whitewashing history and hiding the so called wrongs of the past.

John W1 & Wife1

Exactly what are these perpetually outraged of historical events doing to improve today’s world?

Keep the monument!

D11

The more they whinge and complain about nothing the more determined I am to preserve the history of Cook, even if I have to pay for the monuments myself.

Fred

This is a disgrace. Cook was a great explorer and if not for Cook most of us wouldn’t be here today and we would not have our way of life.

Steven

It’s history, you can’t rewrite it but you can learn from it. Cook was a great explorer. It was a time long ago in a different age with different mindsets, should it be removed no way

Marilyn

We need to accept our past and concentrate on our future. Politicians are doing a disgraceful job of both.

I have an idea

Hayden

Make the monument twice as large and put it back up.

A Wise Man Once Said

Look at the poll. Embrace your history, learn from it and better it, but apologies and token remorse change nothing. Get off the woke train.

Jon & Lou

What a ignorant group of people they are miserable, mean narrow thinking. Captain Cook was a remarkable human being a Pioneer of the unknown like a space traveller from the past and now we are moving forward to space adventures to our future.

PENDING

How about we “permanently remove” all the hateful rabble-rousing activists instead?