Malcolm Turnbull has condemned a ‘cowardly’ act of vandalism against three statues in Sydney and compared it to the behaviour of Joseph Stalin.
The Prime Minister said the defacement of monuments to Captain James Cook and Governor Lachlan Macquarie on Saturday both ‘denied’ and ‘obliterated’ Australia’s history.
In a Facebook post he called the graffiti of the statues ‘deeply disturbing’ and said that he hoped the police ‘swiftly find those responsible and bring them to justice’.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (pictured) condemned a ‘cowardly’ act of vandalism against three statues in Sydney and compared it to the actions of Joseph Stalin
It comes after three statues, including one of Captain James Cook (pictured), were attacked by vandals in Sydney on Saturday morning
‘This is what Stalin did. When he fell out with his henchmen he didn’t just execute them, they were removed from all official photographs,’ Mr Turnbull wrote.
‘They became non-persons, banished not just from life’s mortal coil but from memory and history itself.’
‘Tearing down of defacing statues of our colonial era explorers and governors is not much better than that.’
Mr Turnbull said that the statues remained important because they gave a perspective of the time in which they were erected.
‘We do not adopt every inscription on every statue or monument – it is a voice at a point in time,’ he wrote.
‘Is the next step of this new totalitarianism to burn the 19th century histories of Australia as well, or should their yellowing pages be simply overwritten in crude graffiti condemning their long dead authors?’
The Prime Minister used a Facebook post to call the graffiti of the statues ‘deeply disturbing’ and said he hoped the police ‘swiftly find those responsible and bring them to justice’
Mr Turnbull used the post (pictured) to state that such statues were important because they gave a perspective of the time in which they were erected
It comes after police set up crime scenes in Sydney’s Hyde Park Saturday morning when statues of Cook, Governor Macquarie and Queen Victoria were sprayed with political slogans.
The Archibald Memorial Fountain and ANZAC Memorial were also believed to be damaged, however clean-up crews had removed most of the graffiti by 12pm.
Acknowledging the history the statues presented, the Prime Minister also emphasised that the monuments tell ‘one version of events’.
‘After all contention and controversy enliven history… Yes, there are many dark chapters of injustice, hardship and cruelty,’ Mr Turnbull wrote.
‘But we do not advance the clear eyed telling of the truth as we see it today, by trying to obliterate the reality of the different perspectives of times past.’
A statue of former NSW governor Lachlan Macquarie (pictured) was also targeted by vandals
The statue (pictured) was spray-painted with political slogans referring to the debate over the date of Australia Day
The graffiti included the words ‘change the date’ and ‘no pride in genocide’ in spray-paint on the Captain Cook statue and similar words on that of Lachlan Macquarie.
The statue of Queen Victoria was defaced with the words ‘F***ing bow down’.
The vandalism spree follows fierce public debate about whether inscriptions on statues of Cook should be changed because they celebrate the Englishman’s ‘discovery’ of Australia and ignore Aborigines’ occupation of the land prior to that.
Police are investigating ‘a number of incidents of malicious damage’ in the park, believed to have happened between 2am and 3am on Saturday.
‘Three crime scenes have been established throughout the park and inquiries are continuing,’ a spokeswoman said.
Images of a male (pictured) have been released with police hoping he might be able to assist them with inquiries into the malicious damage of the public monuments
The man (pictured) is described as being of Caucasian appearance with a full face beard and was wearing a khaki-coloured jacket, black track pants and brown boots
NSW Police released CCTV footage and images of a male they wish to speak to about the incident.
He is described as being of Caucasian appearance with a full face beard, wearing black sunglasses, a khaki-coloured jacket with a red shirt or scarf underneath, black track pants and brown boots.
Indigenous broadcaster Stan Grant, who called for the inscription on the statue to be changed, has spoken out about the vandalism, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
‘That’s appalling. It’s vandalism. If we can’t have this conversation in a country, democratically and respectfully, then it is just disgraceful,’ he said.
‘People who do that, they actually reflect badly, not just on themselves, but if they actually care about indigenous people and our cause, they are the ones who damage us.’
A statue of Queen Victoria (pictured) was painted with the words ‘F***ing bow down’ early on Saturday morning
Clean-up crews were on the scene shortly before noon on Saturday to remove the paint (pictured)
The graffiti attack comes just days after Grant called for the inscription on the Cook statue to be changed.
‘The inscription that Cook ‘Discovered this territory 1770′ maintains a damaging myth, a belief in the superiority of white Christendom that devastated Indigenous peoples everywhere,’ he wrote in an opinion column for the ABC.
His comments have reportedly been submitted to Mayor Clover Moore for consideration.
‘The Lord Mayor has referred Stan Grant’s comments to the City of Sydney’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory panel for their consideration and advice,’ Ms Moore’s spokesman said.
The Archibald Memorial Fountain and ANZAC Memorial were also believed to be damaged
The graffiti (pictured) attack comes just days after indigenous broadcaster Stan Grant called for the inscription on the Cook statue be changed
Mr Turnbull called for the preservation of the statues, saying: ‘We do not adopt every inscription on every statue or monument – it is a voice at a point in time’
Prime Minister Turnbull also weighed in on the debate on Friday, saying Grant was ‘dead wrong’.
‘All of those statues, all of those monuments, are part of our history and we should respect them and preserve them,’ he told Neil Mitchell on 3AW radio.
‘By all means, put up other monuments, put up other signs and sites that explain our history.’
A City of Sydney spokeswoman said the council was also cleaning up graffiti that appeared overnight in Martin Place and Macquarie Street.
‘Sites affected include the Archibald Memorial Fountain, ANZAC Memorial and statues including the Captain James Cook statue,’ she told AAP.
‘NSW Police have completed forensic work and city cleaning crews have commenced work to remove the unlawful graffiti.’
The graffiti attack comes just days after indigenous broadcaster Stan Grant (pictured) called for the inscription on the Cook statue – stating the explorer had ‘discovered’ the territory in 1770 – to be changed
Calls to pull down a number of Sydney monuments honouring key figures in Australian history have also been slammed as ‘taliban-like’
Suggestions to remove the monuments had been met with resistance from Shooters and Fishers MP Robert Borsak, who labelled the idea as ‘Taliban-like’.
While Aboriginal leader Warren Mundine suggested a continued push to rectify history was a ‘Stalinist approach’.
‘All this nonsense about changing things — we cannot look back at history with our modern minds otherwise we would have to tear down the pyramids because they were built by slaves,’ said Mr Mundine.
‘Attempts to rewrite our public history for the sake of political correctness — which is what these activist want to do — is little better than Stalin erasing his political opponent from photographs.’
Mr Mundine was in agreement who instead suggested for a different approach, erecting monuments to indigenous people.
Aboriginal leader Warren Mundine (pictured), also suggested the continued push to rectify history would be a ‘Stalinist approach’
The idea was brought to public attention when indigenous ABC journalist Stan Grant hit out at the wording chosen on the base of Cook’s statue (pictured) which says the British explorer ‘discovered this territory in 1770.’