ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
One of North Queensland’s most iconic landmarks is under a cloud this morning after ABC comedian Chris Lilley has several of his productions pulled from Netflix.
Cairns’ “Big Nazi Captain Cook” is the most northerly ‘Big Thing’ in Australia and was built to commemorate James Cook landing in Australia in 1770.
The statue was originally built to advertise a local pub and forty years later, it’s still standing.
However, in light of recent events around the country and indeed around the world, the future of the ‘Big Nazi Captain Cook’ is in doubt.
There are growing calls from the Aboriginal Australian community to pull the statue down, as the arrival of Captain Cook in 1770 represents the beginning of White Australia’s war on their very way of life.
Speaking to The Advocate this morning, Cairns local Donoghue Tieson said the statue has always been divisive.
“There are people in this town who love it and there’s people who don’t,” he said.
“But, yeah look, the Nazi element to it is a bit crook. A lot of people in town don’t much like the Nazis. Tell you what, most people in town who like the Nazis aren’t very vocal about it so who knows who likes Nazis in Cairns,”
“I reckon it could come down. It’s half fucked as it is. A good storm will blow the cunt down, that’s no lie. It’s a safety issue. It’s pretty fucken racist, too,”
“If they pulled that fuckwit off the ABC for doing blackface, they should pull everyone who’s done it off the internet, too. The precedent has been set.”
The Advocate reached out the Cairns Shire Council for comment but has yet to receive a reply.
More to come.
