Sydney to Review Plaques on Colonial Statues

As part of the review, officials will look at a prominent statue of former New South Wales governor Lachlan Macquarie, who is described as a “perfect gentleman” — despite once authorising troops to shoot hostile “natives” and hang them in trees.

City councillor Yvonne Weldon has been pushing for the measure after a national referendum overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution.

Weldon, the first Aboriginal Australian to sit on Sydney’s city council, said many of the plaques “feature inaccurate, misleading and offensive accounts of the feats of those commemorated”.

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Inscriptions attached to bronze monuments of historical figures such as Queen Victoria and explorer Captain James Cook will also be considered.

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