Media Release - 4 August 2020
Local petition garners support for the removal of the Blackbirder Robert Towns’ Statue from the CBD of Townsville and its installation in a museum.
Over 1200 supporters have (to date) signed a petition to the Townsville City Council which calls for the removal of the statue from the Townsville CBD and its placement in a museum where it can be used as part of a more contextualised and therefore historically accurate account of the life of Robert Towns and his part in the colonial history of north Queensland and the foundations of the present-day city.
There have been calls for the removal of the Towns’ Statue that stands near Ross Creek since it was installed in 2005 but these pleas have been ignored. We’re calling on Townsville City Council to act respectfully and in a genuinely reconciliatory way (in keeping with their TCC Reconciliation Action Plan) and remove this outdated statue from its current position and partner with the Museum of Tropical Queensland to have it placed there instead. In the museum it can be supported by a display that tells a more accurate and balanced story behind the colonisation and founding of Townsville.
This petition and push for accuracy and conciliatory action by the local government is a community led campaign that is garnering support from people across diverse cultural communities, locally, nationally and internationally. The many, varied and, at times, moving comments made on the petition indicate the importance of undertaking this move to honour the untold (hidden) stories of the peoples who suffered during the process of colonisation in our country.
We consulted closely with a couple of Bindal Traditional Owners who are also of South Sea Island descent, namely Dorothy Savage and Gracelyn Smallwood, in the development of this petition which they support and endorse.
Dorothy Savage, Bindal Traditional Owner and her sister Gracelyn Smallwood (who are both academics, activists and community elders) have been campaigning for this statue to be removed since it was put there. They told us that Traditional Owners were not consulted at any stage during the development and planning of this monument. They are very keen to have this petition’s proposal taken seriously and are willing to engage with Townsville City Council in proper consultation around it.
In our recent enquiries to Council about this matter, we’ve been told that TCC is consulting a group of Indigenous people about the statue following recent community backlash (in the form of red paint being sprayed on Towns’ hands) as the issue is again highlighted amongst the action and energy generated by the Black Lives Matter movement.
About this statement Dorothy Savage said: “I want to know who the Townsville City Council are consulting with? Are the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders being consulted about these matters? The term 'Indigenous' is almost always used too loosely and is often applied to obscure the fact that local elder representatives from Traditional Owner groups aren't being included in these consultations. And it has a lot to do with us! Where is our voice?“
This petition to relocate the statue of Robert Towns from the Townsville CDB is part of the timely recognition of the role slavery and dispossession of Indigenous peoples and people of colour played in the establishment of many former colonial nations around the world. This is not to say that there is a need for blame or that such present-day nations are based only on violence and exploitation. But it is a necessary step towards a more inclusive society that is grounded in actual history and not on ideologies or ill-informed values. It is a factual and intrinsic part of the development of Australia as a nation, where human rights and the fair treatment of all before the law are defining parts of the national identity.
“I think this petition is a great idea, in presenting the truth. It is good to see non-indigenous people taking up the fight and supporting all those who have fought against racism in this town… Because Black Lives Matter.“ Dorothy Savage, July 2020
Contact the Petitioners:
Bernadette Boscacci - bernadetteboscacci@gmail.com
Dr Louise Boscacci - louiseboscacci@gmail.com
Dr James G Barrett - didgebaba@gmail.com