Captain Cook statue vandalised in Melbourne on eve of Australia Day
A statue of Captain James Cook, dating back a century, was toppled, and a Queen Victoria monument was doused in red paint in what appears to be a protest in Australia. This act of vandalism occurred late at night in Melbourne on the eve of Australia Day and is currently under police investigation.
Australia Day, observed on January 26th, marks the anniversary of the 1788 landing of Britain’s First Fleet at Sydney Cove, signaling the beginning of the colonial era. The vandals left the message “The colony will fall” on the plinth of the Cook statue.
According to Victoria Police, the “criminal damage” to both memorials took place in the early hours of Thursday. The Cook statue, erected in 1914, commemorates his 1768-1771 voyage, during which he mapped the country’s east coast, setting the stage for the later dispatch of the First Fleet led by Captain Arthur Phillip.
This statue has a history of being targeted around January 26th; in 2022, it was splattered with red paint, and in 2018, it was defaced with the words “no pride” and accompanied by an Aboriginal flag. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan emphasized that such vandalism has “no place in our community.”
“We’ll be working with council to repair and reinstate the statue in St Kilda,” she added, referring to the suburb where it is located.
Work is also under way to clean the Queen Victoria memorial in the city’s centre.
Port Phillip Mayor Heather Cunsolo said that while she understood the “diverse views surrounding Australia Day” she could not condone “the vandalism of a public asset where costs will be ultimately borne by ratepayers”.
She said her council had arranged for a security guard to protect the Cook statue on Thursday, but the incident occurred before they were scheduled to arrive.
Opinion polls show roughly 60% of Australians support celebrating Australia Day on 26 January.
But many Indigenous Australians and others say it is wrong to celebrate a date which represents the theft of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands and their dislocation from culture.
“Invasion Day” protests have grown in recent years and many people boycott the holiday.
