Randwick mayor says vandalism does ‘disservice to reconciliation’ but Greens councillor says statue marks ‘devastating impacts of colonisation’. A statue of Captain Cook in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has been damaged and doused in red paint for a second year in a row.
New South Wales police were investigating after the damage to the sandstone statue of the explorer and naval captain was discovered on Friday morning before the Australia Day long weekend. Capt Arthur Phillip planted a union jack on the shore of Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 to establish the colony of NSW after the arrival of the First Fleet. Because the date falls on a Sunday this year, the public holiday will be held on Monday 27 January.
James Cook, who claimed the east coast of the Australian continent for Britain after landing in Sydney’s Botany Bay in 1770, has become a controversial figure because of his association with the damage done by colonisation. For more than 60,000 years before Phillip or Cook arrived in Australia, hundreds of nations of Australia’s first peoples lived across the continent.
Known by many as Invasion Day or Survival Day, 26 January is a day of mourning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is marked by events including protests, ceremonies and vigils. The statue, on the corner of Belmore Road and Avoca Street in Randwick, had been restored after a similar attack in February 2024.
