British Monarch’s Statue Decapitated on King’s Birthday Public Holiday
The video depicts an individual applying red paint to the statue’s plinth and spraying the phrase ‘the colony will fall,’ alongside pro-Palestine slogans.
Activists have defaced a statue of King George V in Melbourne’s CBD as part of an ongoing campaign targeting Australian colonial-era figures.
Social media footage shows a person in a green high-visibility jacket decapitating the former British monarch’s statue in Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue near the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
The video is accompanied by the song “God Save the Queen” by the UK punk rock band The Clash.
The @akaWACA account by the “Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance” shared the video on X on June 10, coinciding with the annual public holiday, the King’s Birthday.
“We’ve received a birthday greeting for his majesty. Happy birthday mofo!” WACA captioned the post.
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“From the river to the sea, #alwayswasalwayswillbe,” the post includes, echoing a common phrase used by pro-Palestinian activists.
The post also features hashtags like “the colony will fall,” “land back,” and “free Palestine.”
Police responded to the scene shortly after 9 a.m. on June 10.
“It appears the statue’s head has been removed, and red paint has been splattered at the monument,” a police spokesperson stated.
Most states in the country were observing a public holiday except Queensland and Western Australia.
This act of vandalism follows a series of attacks on monuments of colonial figures across the country.
In May, a statue of William Crowther, a former Tasmanian state premier, was defaced with graffiti in Hobart, Tasmania.
Additionally, on Australia Day, activists in Melbourne toppled the statue of Captain James Cook, which was also vandalized and spray-painted with the words “the colony will fall.”
A statue of Queen Victoria was also defaced with red paint on the same day.
