BACK in November 2018 the Shire of Southern Grampians supported a request to recognise the contribution former prime minister Malcolm Fraser had made to Australia and our electorate of Wannon by erecting a life-size bust of him in the Hamilton Botanical Gardens.
Mr Fraser grew up on Nareen Station, north of Coleraine, and represented Wannon for 28 years, while also serving as Prime Minister between 1975 and 1983.
More than four years on the project seems to be stalled as discussions drag on about position, finance and so forth.
Councillors in 2019 passed a motion, put forward by councillor, Albert Calvano, requiring shire officers to investigate other places where the bust could be installed, but the gardens remained council’s favoured option.
A bronze bust, set on a Grampians sandstone plinth, followed a suggestion from luminaries Rex Beveridge, former state government minister, Roger Hallam and Peter Schroder.
However, the plan to put the statue in the Botanic Gardens quickly met opposition from the Friends of the Hamilton Botanic Gardens.
This group made a public submission to council to have the statue located elsewhere in town, in accordance with the shire’s Hamilton Botanic Gardens Master Plan, which states “current practice is to recommend that no memorials be added to the public gardens, except in very specific circumstances”.
The group also took umbrage with the fact it was not consulted before the decision to install the statue was made, despite signing a memorandum of understanding to serve as an advisory body for the council.
Councillor Katrina Rainsford agreed it had been a mistake not to consult with the “Friends” and that the shire should consider other alternatives, suggesting the Sir Reginald Ansett Transport Museum site as one potential location.
Councillor Greg McAdam added it was important the shire canvassed other options in case the Botanic Gardens was deemed unsuitable, as a permit from Heritage Victoria was required due to the garden’s heritage-listed status.
There is currently only one statue located in the Botanic Gardens – a statue of King George V that was erected in 1937, the year after his death, at a cost of one hundred pounds.
Council subsequently revisited the matter, in consultation with the gardens group, to determine an alternative site that had fewer heritage restrictions.
A later report then recommended that the bust be installed in the Sam Fitzpatrick Gardens, near the corner of Lonsdale and Brown Streets.
SGSC acting chief executive at the time, Evelyn Arnold, said the new location in the Fitzpatrick Gardens opposite Melville Oval would be prominent and well patronised by both locals and visitors.
These small gardens commemorate Rotarian and medical practitioner, Samuel Charles Fitzpatrick MBE, CBE, who died in 1991. Dr Fitzpatrick was an outstanding general practitioner and surgeon in the Western District for 50 years.
Planning to ensure the bust is situated in a location where it would be secure and less likely to be damaged or vandalised will be undertaken, council promised.
Our PM, his statue and trousers
THEN last May council decided that the Botanical Gardens was it after all - and that a grant of $5000 was likely.
After chatting with Peter Schroder last week it seems finance is still a hurdle. Another $15,000, he suggested, was required to move forward.
But where from.
With Mr Fraser a divisive figure during his time as PM a public appeal through the Spec, as put forward, would struggle to garner enough support.
Private donations are a possibility, and maybe Wannon’s Liberal party branches could chip in.
But the latter wouldn’t be a shoe-in either.
Readers may remember that our former Member for Wannon resigned from the Liberal party in 2009 following the election of Tony Abbott. This after being a critic of his party’s policy direction for a number of years.
A Fraser bust in the privacy the Botanical Gardens might also, as feared by council, occasionally suffer from interference.
In modern times some of the city’s landmarks have been the butt of jokes.
When the statue of Prometheus was first placed in front of the town hall pranks included endowing him with new symbols of manhood.
The bust of George V at the main entrance of the gardens has been redirected on occasion.
The Mayoresses Fountain that used to take pride of place opposite the town hall was subject to pranksters adding washing powder to the water some Saturday nights, meaning council staff returned on Monday to clean away bubbles, foam and fluff from footpath and road.
This resulted in water circulation being turned off after hours and the fountain later being totally demolished.
It doesn’t take much imagination to foresee that a Fraser statue could attract wits adding a pair of trousers to the structure.
For those who came in late our former Member spent much of his post-ministership career public speaking around the globe.
The trousers joke relates to an incident in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1986 when he was in town to lecture on the importance of the Western Alliance.
At a hotel enjoying post-conference revelry with fellow delegates, seems someone during the evening may have slipped him a Mickey Finn.
He realised later that his passport, wallet and briefcase were missing.
Worse, for his dignity as an elderly statesman, so were his trousers.
Not surprisingly, considering that many in the media saw Fraser as a stuffed shirt, “The Memphis Trouser Affair” remains one of the most enduring, mysterious and hilarious modern political scandals.
AFTER losing the 1983 election and subsequently retiring from politics Fraser held advisory positions with the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations.
He was president of the aid agency “Care” from 1990 to 1995.
His seven and a half year tenure as prime minister is the fourth longest in Australian history, only surpassed by Bob Hawke, John Howard and Robert Menzies.
Taking this, his contribution to overseas aid and that he was a “local made good” a bust in the Hamilton gardens is appropriate.
But how to fund the thing.
Didn’t someone once say: life wasn’t meant to be easy?
