James Cook memorial won't return to Melbourne park

An often vandalised monument to renowned British explorer James Cook in Melbourne, Australia, will not be repaired due to the growing cost of doing so, although authorities reject accusations that the vandals have won.

- ROD MCGUIRK

Statues and monuments to the 18th-century naval officer are frequently targeted by opponents of Britain’s settlement of the country without a treaty with its Indigenous people. In 1770, Lieutenant Cook charted the Australian east coast, laying the groundwork for the establishment of Sydney as the first British colony on the continent.

The granite and bronze monument to the master navigator and cartographer in an inner-city Melbourne park was vandalised days after the anniversary of the first British settlers’ arrival at Sydney Cove was commemorated on 26 January. Opponents of Australia Day celebrations denounce the public holiday as “Invasion Day”. There are growing calls for the country to find a less divisive national day.

The monument in Melbourne’s Edinburgh Gardens was snapped at its base and spray-painted with the words “cook the colony”. A similar statue of Captain Cook was hacked off at the ankles in St Kilda last year.