The base of the Captain Cook monument in Hyde Park, Sydney. Source: William Thorpe, Wikimedia Commons
Wiradjuri woman Yvonne Weldon, Sydney’s first ever Aboriginal councilor, is pushing to review Sydney’s colonial statues to address offensive descriptions in their plaques.
Ms Weldon said that the aim of this proposal is to tell the truth to the public.
“This is a moderate and measured proposal,” she told AAP on Tuesday.
“It does not seek the removal of statues, as some have called for.”
The council will be reviewing “inaccurate, misleading and offensive” accounts written on 25 colonial statues around Sydney, including Hyde Park.
One of these statues is the NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie monument in Hyde Park; the plaque of which describes him as a “perfect gentleman” despite the horror he inflicted on Indigenous people.
Archival records reveal that Macquarie’s military actions wreaked havoc on Indigenous populations, including the slaughter of Aboriginal people, including children.
“Walking around parts of the city, you’d be forgiven for thinking that no one was here before the British arrived,” Ms Weldon said.
On Monday night, a motion by council resolved to revisit and review the statues.
The motion included: “By reassessing established narratives, mistruths and one-dimensional accounts of past events, all Australians gain a richer understanding of our shared history and story.”
Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, seconded Ms Weldon’s motion, saying that events and attitudes within Sydney’s history required redress, especially those relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
“The impact of colonisation is particularly poignant here in Sydney, the first site of invasion,” Moore said.
Moore also said that following the failed Voice referendum, Sydney’s council has been focusing more on initiatives such as its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory panel.
Ms Weldon also successfully moved another motion at the same council meeting to promote First Nations voices through enabling the advisory panel to set its own priorities as well as make further submissions to council.
