Grand plans to build a public square dedicated to the late Queen Elizabeth II have stalled in the midst of a funding stand-off between state and federal governments, frustrating royalists and Liberal MPs who have demanded the divisive memorial in Sydney’s city centre go ahead.
Nearly four years after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW’s then-premier Dominic Perrottet trumpeted plans to construct Queen Elizabeth II Place as part of a revamp of Macquarie Street, the project remains starved of funds to begin design and planning work.
NSW Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper said the former Coalition state government had not set aside any money for the plaza, which was to include a monument to the long-reigning British monarch, and Labor was focused on funding necessary projects rather than “nice to haves”.
But Liberal MLC Rachel Merton accused Labor of “betrayal” for shelving the tribute “by stealth”.
“It’s highly disappointing, and shows absolute disrespect to Australia’s constitutional arrangements,” Merton said. “This was going to be the significant piece to pay tribute to Her Majesty.”
Debate over memorials to royals versus recognising Indigenous history has increasingly stoked tensions in colonised nations worldwide.
In a show of bipartisanship, Albanese and Perrottet vowed to build the memorial square and statue during a visit to Macquarie Street days after the late Queen died, aged 96, in September 2022.
In 2023, modernist additions to the rear of the historic NSW Registrar General’s Building were bulldozed for the plaza beside Hyde Park Barracks, connecting to the Domain parklands.
There was speculation that King Charles III would dedicate the memorial when he visited Australia in 2024.
But the space next to the refurbished sandstone building remains unfinished and behind fences.
Willoughby MP Tim James is among Liberal politicians who have raised questions in NSW Parliament about when construction on the square is likely to commence.
He believed it was a project, honouring Australia’s head of state for 70 years, of “real state significance”.
“From this [Labor state] government’s point of view, there is no priority, no focus, no money and, I’m told, no effort being made whatsoever to seek to get this done.”
Announcing the project in 2022, Albanese said the “visionary project” was an “appropriate and fitting tribute” that would commemorate the late Queen’s life and become a place Australians could enjoy for many years.
Perrottet said the square would be “forever known as Queen Elizabeth II Place” – a “plaza for our people” to “remember the service and dedication of Queen Elizabeth to the great people of NSW”.
James said: “If it’s good enough for [Albanese] to stand there and say all those nice things, where is the practical, tangible financial support to help make this happen?”
Kamper said the state had requested funding from the federal government for planning and design work.
“Commencing the design and planning is subject to receiving approval to a funding request which has been made under the Australian government’s Urban Precincts and Partnerships Program,” Kamper said.
The national scheme provides funding of up to $50 million per project to help transform urban precincts.
The state government said it did not have an estimate of how much the square would cost.
A spokesman for federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the government was assessing NSW’s application, while Property and Development NSW said a decision was expected within months.
Kamper said that the state government prioritised “necessities”, and the “reality of the matter is that these projects are ‘nice to haves’”.
“We are focused on delivering the schools, hospitals, roads, public transport and housing that our state needs,” Kamper said.
James, when asked why the Perrottet government hadn’t funded the project, said the announcement had been an election commitment given it had been made six months before the 2023 state poll.
Australian Monarchist League chairman Philip Benwell insisted that a permanent memorial to the late Queen would be “very relevant”, and said if governments “want the funding they can always get it”.
”The area already has statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert … to add the longest reigning monarch in British history would be a worthwhile achievement,” Benwell said.
Merton, who is convenor of the Parliamentary Friends of the Australian Constitution, said: “We want them to reinstate the commitment and put some funding behind this. You can’t mislead the public.”
City of Sydney Liberal councillor Lyndon Gannon raised the project at a meeting in April, urging consideration of a monument, artwork or memorial to the late Queen.
Councillors unanimously noted the state government’s commitment to the memorial square, while emphasising the “ongoing need to rebalance recognition” in public spaces.
Labor councillor and Wiradjuri woman Yvonne Weldon said that while she had “great respect and admiration” for the late Queen, there was an “over-representation” of such figures in Sydney.
About 25 statues in the city celebrated colonial figures, including Queen Victoria, former NSW governors Arthur Phillip and Lachlan Macquarie, and explorers Captain James Cook and Matthew Flinders – as well as Flinders’ cat, Trim.
Weldon said there was not a “single publicly funded statue” commemorating a First Nations person. “This imbalance in representation is unacceptable,” she said.
A sculpture of an Aboriginal woman, Badjgama Ngunda Whuliwulawala (Black Women Rising) by Alison Page, has been commissioned for space at the front of One Circular Quay.
Meanwhile, the state government is forging ahead with its 20-year ambition to turn the Macquarie Street east precinct into an arts and culture district.
Former prime minister Paul Keating and former Greater Sydney Commission chief commissioner Lucy Turnbull reviewed the use of the area and found in 2018 that the strip lacked vibrancy.
Kamper said a program to activate and use the ground floor of the Registrar General’s Building was finished last year, and there was a $27 million plan to overhaul the State Library of NSW forecourt.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
