Mayors no longer ‘defend the virtues and values of their area’: Chris Kenny

Sky News host Chris Kenny has questioned why mayors are no longer “fine upstanding men and women” who “defend the virtues and values of their area”. Greens Randwick Mayor Philipa Veitch has called for a statue of Captain Cook to be taken down because of her ‘strong personal views’ that statues which ‘stand as a symbol and reminder of colonial oppression’ should be ‘taken down and removed from our civic spaces’. “I’m old enough to remember when mayors tended to be these fine upstanding men and women from their communities who were defending the virtues and values of their area and very, very proud of the history of their area,” Ms Kenny said. “In Randwick, we have a Green Mayor, and there’s a statue of Captain Cook that’s been there for 114 years. “But the odd lunatic throws some paint on it from time to time; she says it should be torn down because she sees it as a reminder of colonial oppression anyway.”