HUNDREDS of voices have called for a statue of explorer James Cook to be removed from Bendigo's Anglican Cathedral, as anti-racism protests continue globally.
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But a heritage order prevents any changes to the cathedral precinct. This has stopped the church removing the statue, despite its discomfort with its symbolic message.
Dja Dja Wurrung leaders say they would celebrate the monument's removal, as the heritage of Captain Cook's landing had affected Aboriginal people in the area.
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A new petition begun by a local teacher calls for the Anglican Diocese to take the statue away from public view, pointing to Captain Cook's arrival as the start of displacement, genocide and mistreatment of Australia's Indigenous peoples.
Captain Cook's landing in Australia marked the beginning of European settlement. This led to waves of European disease and massacres that killed tens of thousands of Aboriginal people.
Dja Dja Wurrung chief executive Rodney Carter said statues were for heroes, and it was an imposition on Bendigo's Indigenous residents to be told to celebrate Captain Cook as a hero.
Mr Carter said the Dja Dja Wurrung would strongly support getting rid of the monument.
But he said it would be good to set it aside, to have a really robust conversation with the church and the community about what was a significant moment in history, even if it was a negative moment for his mob.
"Captain Cook is no one's hero, even today in Australia. He's a hero of the empire," he said.
"We would want our kids today to celebrate a Dja Dja Wurrung elder, a person, an ancestor."
Anglican Bishop Matt Brain said he agreed with the petitioners' message, but heritage restrictions on the precinct had stymied attempts to move the statue.
Bishop Brain said Captain Cook statue standing without explanation failed to tell the story of the great difficulties that came with European settlement for the First Peoples of Victoria.
He said the Diocese was working through ways to tell the fuller story around the monument, about the effects of European settlement on Indigenous Australians, in consultation with the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Corporation.
Bishop Brain said the statue was an odd thing to find in a church, without any real reason to be there.
The monument was erected in 1906 from a bequest of a lay leader at St Paul Cathedral.
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"We've recognised for a long time that it's not something that is there without problems," Bishop Brain said.
"I would much prefer to see something that gave people freedom to engage with God without a barrier in the way. Anything that's a barrier, I want to see come down."
Bendigo teacher Laura Johnstone began the petition because she had often felt uneasy about having a statue that celebrated such a problematic figure.
Ms Johnstone said she didn't want the statue destroyed - several statues have been toppled by crowds supporting the Black Lives Matter movement in recent weeks - but having it in public view was celebrating this uncomfortable history.
She said she hoped to start a conversation about the history of Australia.
Find the petition at: bit.ly/2N0QyLX
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