You can handle the truth: Aboriginal peoples, colonial commemorations and the unfinished business of Truth-Telling

When the authors became aware of the ‘Crowther Reinterpreted’ project, conducted by Hobart City Council in nipaluna (Hobart), lutruwita (Tasmania), in 2021/2022, they had the opportunity to witness a variety of thoughts and opinions about what should happen with the statue of William Crowther (1917–1885) that stood in nipaluna’s Franklin Square. A majority vote by councillors accepted the project’s proposal to remove the bronze statue and keep the plinth for the installation of a new, permanent interpretive and/or sculptural element. Obviously not everyone was in support of the decision. The authors noted that among the speeches and the flurry of social media posts that were against the statue’s removal, aside from instances of blatant racism, there was a familiarity about the arguments. This was because these same arguments are typically put forward in any instance where a problematic colonial commemoration is challenged—not just on the continent colonially referred to as Australia, but across the globe. In the spirit of truth-telling, this chapter responds to the top-ten most common reasons given for why contested colonial commemorations should not be removed.