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Lawyers rubbish Morrison’s Cook voyage re-enactment plan
Australian lawyers have ridiculed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s proposal to spend nearly $7 million for a circumnavigation of the country on a replica Endeavour ship, to mark the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s first voyage to Australia and the Pacific.
Jerome Doraisamy
Source: history.com
In a statement yesterday, the Morrison Government announced it would pledge $6.7m to the Australian National Maritime Museum so that its replica of Captain Cook’s HMB Endeavour could circumnavigate Australia, hosting a series of events and activities at 39 proposed stops.
Speaking at a news conference about the proposed funding, Mr Morrison said: “You don’t walk away from your history…we’re not going to make any pretenses, we’re just going to be honest about it.”
The proposal was roundly criticised on social media, including by lawyers.
Marque Lawyers managing partner Michael Bradley, posting from his firm’s Twitter account, made reference to the fact that Captain Cook never actually circumnavigated Australia and posited the move was politically-motivated.
“The surpassing irony of re-enacting a historical event which didn’t happen, in pursuit of a culture war which doesn’t exist,” he tweeted, in response to the Prime Minister’s statement.
Separately, and in response to Mr Morrison’s comment that Australians “need to rediscover [Cook] a bit”, Mr Bradley added in a separate tweet that “many Australians do not know, for example, about that time Capt’n [sic] Cook crossed the Delaware on an elephant before defeating Saladin and reclaiming the Holy Land for Jebus [sic]”.
NSW Women Lawyers president Larissa Andelman added her own thoughts on Twitter, also alluding to supposed political motivations by the federal government.
“The next pronouncement from Scott Morrison will be to link the cultural wars from Australia Day to ANZAC Day. Can’t wait. Didn’t Captain Cook sail to Gallipoli?” she tweeted.
The Aboriginal Legal Service made comments on Facebook that, rather than invoking humour, highlighted the decision-making process and priorities of the Coalition.
“Scott Morrison is spending $7 million to send a replica of Captain Cook’s ship around Australia. Meanwhile, Aboriginal legal services [around the country] face a budget cut in 2020,” it posted.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
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