Vandals have cut off the heads of the statues of Kevin Rudd and Paul Keating in Ballarat, and damaged 18 others.
A total of 20 busts on Prime Ministers Avenue in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens in Victoria were attacked between 2am and 5am on Thursday. The avenue features busts of Australia’s first 29 prime ministers.
“It’s hard to say it’s not a targeted attack considering that the busts that have been damaged and stolen are … past prime ministers,” the Victoria police Sen Sgt Brad Hall said.
Police did not know why Rudd and Keating – both former Labor leaders – were the two chosen to have their heads removed, while the nameplates on the other 18 busts were covered in spray paint.
“We’re still trying to work it out at this stage,” Hall said, adding that police believed four people may have been involved.
Police were examining CCTV footage, and Hall said they were “keen to talk to the occupants of a white ute that was seen in the area around the time of Thursday morning”.
Hall said police would be present at the gardens “in the lead up to Australia Day … doing what local police do”.
The Ballarat Botanical Gardens Foundation said in a post to Instagram the attack was a “blatant violation of this vital part of their story and heritage”. It said the avenue “is a source of pride for the local community and has been a site of national significance” since opening in 1940.
It is not the first time a monument commemorating a prime minister has been vandalised at the gardens.
Tony Abbott, a Liberal who served as PM from 2013 to 2015, had been the target of a number of incidents. In 2017 his statue was draped in a crown of onions, and in 2020 it was defaced with red paint alongside a statue of John Howard, also a Liberal.
In a statement, the Ballarat mayor, Tracey Hargreaves, said: “This type of senseless damage is completely unacceptable.”
She said the attack would be “extremely costly” for ratepayers. “It detracts from Ballarat as a city.”
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, condemned the vandalism, saying people should have “great respect for our former prime ministers, regardless of if they are Liberal or Labor”.
“They lead the country at different times and we should be respectful of our history, and we should be very respectful of those who have led our country.”
He said the actions represent “0.1% of Australia”.
