Thousands of people have signed a petition demanding the removal of a statue of Australia’s first prime minister, Sir Edmund Barton, from a traditional burial site in NSW.
Port Macquarie woman Arlene Mehan, of the Mid North Coast’s Birpai people, is leading the campaign to force Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to move the statue from Town Green park on the banks of the Hastings River.
The seven-day-old petition has more than 2100 signatures and comes amid global action by the Black Lives Matter movement to tear down statues of white historical figures.
Ms Mehan said the Barton statue had always been an issue with her family.