A Melbourne council has voted to permanently remove a Captain Cook memorial from the city’s inner north, citing “ongoing costs associated with vandalism”.
The Yarra City Council’s decision comes after an act of vandalism in January 2024 required authorities to temporarily remove the statue from Fitzroy’s Edinburgh Gardens “due to public safety concerns”.
The estimated cost to repair and reinstall the statue was $15,000.
The council said it is now seeking an “appropriate institution to receive and take ownership of it”.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
Removal
The council agreed the memorial was likely to remain at “risk of ongoing vandalism”, with efforts to protect it incurring “significant costs of mitigation”.
City of Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly described the issue as a “boring economic” one.
“I’m not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones, but I don’t think if we put it back up, it wouldn’t be just damaged again. It would be ongoing – how can we justify that?” Jolly said.
