Descendant of Victorian colonial family calls for removal of monuments to her ancestors

Photograph: Yoorrook Justice CommissionHer comments follow a spate of recent attacks and vandalism on Captain Cook statues and monuments.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has offered financial support for councils wanting to reinstate damaged statues and condemned acts of vandalism.

Henty has previously written about how her family continues to be celebrated and characterised as pioneering colonists, reflected in monuments and statues in the Portland region, but argues the full history has not been told.

In 2020, the Glenelg Shire Council, which includes Portland, committed to an audit of colonial monuments and placenames across its region, following calls from Gunditjmara man Shea Rotumah for them to be removed amid the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

Yoorrook is Australia’s first Indigenous truth-telling body and has the same powers as a royal commission, including the ability to hold public hearings, call witnesses under oath, compel evidence and make recommendations to government.

Its mandate is to investigate historical and current systemic injustices against First Nations people and it will produce a final report with its findings by mid-2025.