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Captain Cook statue torn down ahead of first Australia Day after failed referendum

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The bronze feet of a vandalised statue.
Feet of the vandalised Captain Cook statue at St Kilda on January 25, 2024.(ABC News)

Vandalism of statues in the days leading up to Australia Day has become commonplace in recent years. 

But things were taken to another level overnight in Melbourne, with a statue of Captain Cook sawn off at the ankles and graffitied with the words "the colony will fall". 

It comes as debate about the day rages again and after last year's bruising defeat of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

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Marcus Pearl, councillor, City of Port Phillip
James Flexner, associate rofessor in Historical and Heritage Archaeology, University of Sydney
Celeste Liddle, Invasion Day protest organiser
Ken Wyatt, former Coalition minister

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