The Hobart City Council voted to remove the statue of Dr William Crowther that has stood in Franklin Square for over 130 years. Their decision was not unanimous. Most Tasmanians want the statue to remain.
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CLICK HERE to find out more about the allegations, the reality, and Dr William Crowther.
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What are others saying?
".....[Hobart Council's process and decision] has been an ill-conceived campaign utterly devoid of any research into primary source evidence, relying on emotion and
the generation of public guilt to achieve its ends without any pretence of objectivity."
Dr Ian McFarlane, Historian
When asked if the statue should be removed."...No, I think it is an
empty piece of virtue-signalling. I think that if you're going to take down statues
that there are a lot of other statues to take down, and then you can start taking
down street names, changing names of buildings, taking big portraits out of places......"
Cassandra Pybus, Author and Research Professor
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"I think there should be a discussion, but I don't think there should be removal or a pulling down like we see in America... but I think interpretation boards somewhere"
Emeritus Professor Stefan Petrow
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"Do we say this man is terrible in our current way of thinking,
he should never have a statue to himself? I'd say that is so simplistic, that is so
politically correct. It ignores why the statue was put there in the first place..."
Emeritus Professor Stefan Petrow
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"Charges have been laid against Crowther's conduct as though they were established 'givens' whilst they are certainly not. Any connection whatsoever between Crowther and any of the events relating to the mutilation of Lanne's body have yet to be demonstrated."
Dr Ian McFarlane, Historian
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"The statue was put up for a didactic purpose - teaching a lesson to the rising generation -
and the lesson Premier Philip Fsyh talked about was that you have got to put a lot of energy
into what you do because if Crowther was anything, he was incredibly energetic, the business, science, politics, medicine and this should show the young that you've got to be thorough, preserve, be enterprising, show skill if you want to get on in life..."
Emeritus Professor Stefan Petrow
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"Having done the research, I can say that William Crowther is the least culpable
person in what was an abhorrent trade in Aboriginal remains that began as soon
as the colony was established..."
Cassandra Pybus, Author and Research Professor
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I am not aware of one piece of evidence that actually links Crowther to any
contact with Lanne's body. As a consequence, I fully support the
Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation (CHAC) in their demand that an
enquiry should be initiated..."
Dr Ian McFarlane, Historian
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"He was dearly loved by the ordinary people of Hobart, by the artisans and the
tradesmen and the workers and the ex-convicts, basically because he [medically] treated
them for free and he insisted that the hospital had to take them when they couldn't pay
and that's why he kept being elected to Parliament over and over again with huge majority..."
Cassandra Pybus, Author and Research Professor
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"The people who erected by the statue were his supporters. It wasn't put there
by the government or by taxpayers, it was paid for by personal subscriptions,
little small amounts of money that were raised by lots and lots and lots of people
and we do need to bear that in mind...."
Cassandra Pybus, Author and Research Professor
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