A Hobart City Councillor claims removing a premier’s statue from Franklin Square is likely to boost the “no” vote further in the upcoming Voice referendum.
Removal critic Louise Elliott has responded to news the Tasmanian Heritage Council has given the go-ahead for William Crowther’s statue to be placed in storage.
Hobart City Council’s planning committee is expected to vote in favour of removal next week on the grounds that Dr Crowther’s desecration of aboriginal remains makes the statue distressing to some.
Councillor Elliott says she’s certain the decision will be appealed to TASCAT.
“The bar is now set dangerously low in terms of what can be removed by cancel culture. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of monuments, place names, collections, buildings that will be in the firing line now and we can expect more deletions of our heritage to come,” said Cr. Elliott.
“A lot of people will be really perplexed by this decision as they see the Heritage Council’s role as being to protect our heritage, not allow it to be sent to storage.”
