This article examines the recent vandalism of Captain Cook statues and its connection to the upcoming federal election in Australia. It analyzes how both the Labor and Coalition parties are strategizing around the controversy and its potential impact on the electoral landscape.
This year, Australia Day falls in the shadow of a looming federal election. No doubt Peter Dutton would welcome another opportunity to position himself as an antidote to the 'woke' politics he claims is dividing the nation. Recent vandalism, like the theft of a statue of Captain Cook and damage to bronze statue heads of former prime ministers Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd from Prime Ministers Avenue in Lake Wendouree on Friday, arguably provides him with just the ammunition he needs.
While one can't help but admire the brazenness, such hijinks are quite the own goal. The opposition leader's campaign staff have been on high alert for any happenings with even the slightest whiff of 'woke,' knowing that the more airtime Anthony Albanese wastes defending against attempts to associate himself with left-wing activism, the less he'll spend talking about the future of Australia. Last week, the PM was being blamed for UK High Commissioner Stephen Smith skirting this year’s Australia Day festivities in London, with Dutton declaring he should be recalled from the posting if he was 'ashamed' (Smith has since said he’ll attend events). Days later, Albanese was fending off questions about Dutton’s intent to force local councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26. Aside from the odd snarl, Albanese isn’t biting. But just because he refuses to take the bait doesn’t mean someone else won’t.Before the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags should he win the election, Labor MP Linda Burney went on the attack via Instagram, saying, 'This is the man who gave no support to the referendum.' The former minister for Indigenous Australians’ words reflect a belief that the moral case for a constitutional Voice to parliament is obvious and irrefutable. Ipso facto, anyone who didn’t support the Voice is morally bankrupt. She may as well have told the 9.4 million people who voted No to turn out for the Coalition on election day. Far too many social progressives fail to understand that there can be moral grounds for holding reservations about enshrining racial identity in the highest law in the land. And while Burney’s heart is no doubt in the right place, her words are redolent of the absolutism and outrage that drives fringe activists to commit headline-stealing acts that alienate the average punter. It’s worth remembering that 117 of the 151 federal electorates registered a No vote at the referendum. Keeping this in mind helps explain Dutton’s posturing, given the Coalition needs to gain only 18 seats to form a majority government. Of course, such a feat will be harder than it sounds, not least because six of the 34 seats that voted Yes were former safe Liberal seats that turned teal at the last election. And so, stoking culture wars over Indigenous issues is unlikely to help win back those electorates, including Kooyong and Goldstein in Victoria. In 2024, the Captain Cook statue in St Kilda’s Catani Gardens was hacked off at the ankle bones. In 2025, the replacement statue was under guard leading up to Australia Day. A more likely scenario is that the Coalition sends Labor into minority government by nicking seats in the outer suburbs in places like western Sydney, where they managed to turn somewhat more conservative migrant communities against the Voice in 2023. Victorian lefties may consider this to be just deserts for a prime minister whose achievements seem underwhelming compared to those of former premier Daniel Andrews. In 2022, the Andrews government held the nation’s first truth-telling commission to investigate and address historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria. Three years earlier, the same government also legislated a democratically elected indigenous advisory body. While Andrews was a formidable communicator, Albanese is stodgy by comparison. But blaming him for not being Andrews is overly simplistic. Capturing hearts and minds from Cape York to Hobart and across the Nullarbor is somewhat more challenging than being a Labor premier at the helm of one of the federation’s most progressive states. What’s more, Andrews’ heyday occurred before the global backlash against 'wokeness' fully took root. But more importantly, none of his government’s reforms required a referendum, which meant they could be implemented without much fuss. Victoria is also the birthplace of the Australian union movement and remains a hub of progressive activism. Furthermore, a smaller proportion of our population resides in regional areas, which tend to be more conservative on average. These factors could explain why Victorians may be more inclined to support a progressive cause than the average Queenslander or West Australian. The rank and file of Victorian Labor have deep and meaningful connections to grassroots movements. This – along with a crack social media team – no doubt gave Andrews the confidence to stare down hostility as his government went about its business
AUSTRALIA DAY FEDERAL ELECTION PETER DUTTON ANTHONY ALBANESE CAPTAIN COOK INDIGENOUS ISSUES REFERENDUM SOCIAL PROGRESSIVISM VICTORIAN LABOR
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